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VOYAGES 




i^^*i-. 



DISCOVERIES 



THE COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. 



/ 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 



To declare my opinion liereiu, wliatsoever hath heretofore been discovered by tlie famous tra- 
vayles of Saturnus and Hercules, with such other whom tlie Antiquitie for their heroical 
acts honoured as gods, seemeth hut little and obscure, if it be compared to the ^-ictorious 
labours of the Spanyards. P. Martyr, Deead. III. c. 4. Lock's translation. 







CAREY AND LEA— CHESNUT STREET. 
1831. 



T 



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C'*^, 



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Southern District of New York, is, 
iifmim BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the 31st day of December^ 
+ L. S. + A. D. 1830, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the United 
+ttt4;*+++ States of America, Washington Irting, of the said district, hath 
deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as au- 
thor, in the words following, to wit : 

"VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. By Wash- 
ington Irving. ' To declare my opinion herein, whatsoever hath heretofore been discovei-ed by 
the famous travayles of Saturnus and Hercules, with such other whom the Antiqtiitie for 
their heroical acts honoured as gods, seemeth but little and obscure, if it be compared to the 
victorious labours of the Spanyards. P. Martyr, Decad. If I. c. 4. Lock's translation.'' " 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States intitled, 
"An act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such ' copies, during the 
time therein mentioned." — And also to an act, entitled, "An act supple- 
mentary to an act, entitled, ' An act for the encouragement of learning, by 
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprie- 
tors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the 
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical 
and other prints." FRED. J. BETTS, 

Clerk of the Southern District of Mew York. 



I. Ashmead & Co. Printers. 



*. 



INTRODUCTION. 






The first discovery of the western hemisphere has 
already been related by the author in his History of Co- 
lumbus. It is proposed by him, in the present work, to 
narrate the enterprises of certain of the companions and 
disciples of the admiral, who, enkindled by his zeal, and 
instructed by his example, sallied forth separately in the 
vast region of adventure to which he had led the way. 
Many of them sought merely to skirt the continent which 
he had partially visited, and to secure the first fruits of 
the pearl fisheries of Paria and Cubaga, or to explore the 
coast of Veragua, which he had represented as the Aurea 
Chersonesus of the Ancients. Others aspired to accom- 
plish. a grand discovery which he had meditated toward 
the close of his career. In the course of his expeditions 
along the coast of Terra Firma, Columbus had repeatedly 
received information of the existence of a vast sea to the 
south. He supposed it to be the great Indian Ocean, 
the region of the Oriental spice islands, and that it must 
communicate by a strait with the Caribbean Sea. His 
last and most disastrous voyage was made for the express 
purpose of discovering that imaginary strait, and making 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

his way into this Southern Ocean. The illustrious navi- 
gator, however, was doomed to die, as it were, upon the 
threshold of his discoveries. It was reserved for one of 
his followers, Vasco Nuiiez de Balboa, to obtain the first 
view of the promised ocean, from the lofty mountains of 
Darien, some years after the eyes of the venerable admi- 
ral had been closed in death. 

The expeditions herein narrated, therefore, may be 
considered as springing immediately out of the voyages 
of Columbus, and fulfilling some of his grand designs. 
They may be compared to the attempts of adventurous 
knights errant to achieve the enterprise left unfinished 
by some illustrious predecessor. Neither is this com- 
parison entirely fancifiil. On the contrary, it is a curious 
fact, well worthy of notice, that the spirit of chivalry 
entered largely into the early expeditions of the Spanish 
discoverers, giving them a character wholly distinct from 
similar enterprises undertaken by other nations. It will 
not, perhaps, be considered far sought, if we trace the 
cause of this peculiarity to the domestic history of the 
Spaniards during the middle ages. 

Eight centuries of incessant warfare with the Moorish 
usurpers of the peninsula produced a deep and lasting 
effect upon the Spanish character and manners. The 
war being ever close at home, mingled itself with tW^ 
domestic habits and concerns of the Spaniard. He was 
born a soldier. The wild and predatory nature of the 
war, also, made him a kind of chivalrous marauder. His 
horse and weapon were always ready for the field. His 
delight was in roving incui*sions and extravagant exploits, 
and no gain was so glorious in his eyes as the cavalgada of 
spoils and captives, driven home in triumph from a plun- 
dered province. Religion, which has ever held great 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

empire in the Spanish mind, lent its aid to sanctify these 
roving and ravaging propensities, and the Castilian cava- 
lier, as he sacked the towns and laid waste the fields of 
his Moslem neighbour, piously believed he was doing 
God service. 

The conquest of Granada put an end to the peninsular 
wars between christian and infidel ; the spirit of Spanish 
chivalry was thus suddenly deprived of its wonted sphere 
of action ; but it had been too long fostered and excited 
to be as suddenly appeased. The youth of the nation, 
bred up to daring adventure and heroic achievement, 
■ could not brook the tranquil and regular pursuits of com- 
mon life, but panted for some new field of romantic en- 
terprise. 

It was at this juncture that the grand project of Co- 
lumbus was carried into effect. His treaty with the 
sovereigns was, in a manner, signed with the same pen 
that had subscribed the capitulation of the Moorish ca- 
pital, and his first expedition may almost be said to have 
departed from beneath the walls of Granada. Many of 
the youthful cavaliers who had fleshed their swords in 
that memorable war, crouded the ships of the discoverers, 
thinking a new career of arms was to be opened to them — 
a kind of crusade into splendid and unknown regions of 
infidels. The very weapons and armour that had been 
used against the Moors, were drawn from the arsenals to 
equip the discoverers, and some of the most noted of the 
early commanders in the new world will be found to have 
made their first essay in arms under the banner of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella, in their romantic campaigns among 
the mountains of Andalusia. 

To these circumstances may, in a great measure, be 
ascribed that swelling chivalrous spirit which will be 



" INTRODUCTION. 

found continually mingling, or rather warring, with the 
technical habits of the seaman, and the sordid schemes of 
the mercenary adventurer ; in these early Spanish disco- 
veries, chivalry had left the land and launched upon the 
deep. The Spanish cavalier had embarked in the Cara- 
val of the discoverer; he carried among the trackless 
wildernesses of the new world, the same contempt of dan- 
ger and fortitude under suffering, the same restless roam- 
ing spirit, the same passion for inroad and ravage, and 
vain-glorious exploit, and the same fervent, and often 
bigoted, zeal for the propagation of his faith that had dis- 
tinguished him during his warfare with the Moors. In- 
stances in point will be found in the extravagant career 
of the daring Ojeda, particularly in his adventures along 
the coast of Terra Firma and the wild shores of Cuba. 
In the sad story of the ^'unfortunate Nicuesa;" graced 
as it is with occasional touches of high-bred courtesy ; in 
the singular cruise of that brave, but credulous, old cava- 
lier, Juan Ponce de Leon, who fell upon the flowery coast 
of Florida, in his search after an imaginary fountain of 
youth; and above all in the chequered fortunes of Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa, whose discovery of the Pacific ocean, 
forms one of the most beautiful and striking incidents in 
the history of the new world, and whose fate might fur- 
nish a theme of wonderful interest for a poem or a drama. 
The extraordinary actions and adventures of these men, 
while they rival the exploits recorded in chivalric tale, 
have the additional interest of verity. They leave us in 
admiration of the bold and heroic qualities inherent in the 
Spanish character, which led that nation to so high a 
pitch of power and glory, and which are still discernible 
in the great mass of that gallant people, by those who 
have an opportunity of judging of them rightly. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

Before concluding these prefatory remarks, the author 
would acknowledge how much he has been indebted to 
the third volume of the invaluable Historical collection of 
Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, wherein he has ex- 
hibited his usual industry, accuracy and critical acumen. 
He has likewise profited greatly by the second volume of 
Oviedo's general history, which only exists in manuscript, 
and a copy of which he found in the Columbian library of 
the Cathedral of Seville. 

He has had some assistance also from the documents of 
the law case between Don Diego Columbus and the Crown, 
which exists in the archives of the Indies ; and for an 
inspection of which he is much indebted to the permis- 
sion of the Spanish Government and the kind attentions 
of Don Josef de La Higuera Lara, the keeper of the 
archives. These, with the historical works of Las Casas, 
Herrera Gomera, and Peter Martyr, have been his au- 
thorities for the facts contained in the following work ; 
though he has not thought proper to refer to them con- 
tinually at the bottom of his page. 

While his work was going through the press he receiv- 
ed a volume of Spanish Biography, written with great 
elegance and accuracy, by Don Manuel Josef Quintana, 
and containing a life of Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He 
was gratified to find that his arrangement of facts were 
generally corroborated by this work ; though he was en- 
abled to correct his dates in several instances, and to 
make a few other emendations from the volume of Senor 
Quintana, whose position in Spain gave him the means of 
attaining superior exactness on these points. 



ALONZO DE OJEDA. 



* 






HIS FIRST VOYAGE, 

IN WHICH HE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY 

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.f 



CHAPTER I. 



Some Account of Ojeda — of Juan de la Cosa — of Amerigo Vespuc- 
ci — Preparations for the Voyage. — (1499.) 

Those who have read the History of Columbus will, 
doubtless, remember the character and exploits of Alonzo 
de Ojeda; as some of the readers of the following pages, 
however, may not ha^e perused that work, and as it is 
proposed at present to trace the subsequent fortunes of 
this youthful adventurer, a brief sketch of him may not 
be deemed superfluous. 

Alonzo de Ojeda was a native of Cuenca, in New Cas- 
tile, and of a respectable family. He was brought up as 
a page or esquire, in the service of Don Luis de Cerda, 
Duke of Medina Celi, one of the most powerful nobles of 
Spain ; the same who for some time patronised Columbus 
during his application to the Spanish court. | 

In those warlike days, when the peninsula was dis- 
tracted by contests between the christian kingdoms, by 

* Ojeda is pronounced in Spanish Oheda, with a strong aspi- 
ration of the h. 

t Vespucci, Vespuchy. 

t Varones Ilustres, por F. Pizarro y Orellana, p. 41. Las Casas, 
Hist. Ind. 1. i. c. 82. 

2 



?•* 



10 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

feuds between the nobles and the crown, and by the in- 
cessant and marauding warfare with the Moors, the house- 
hold of a Spanish nobleman was a complete school of 
arms, where the youth of the country were sent to be 
trained up in all kinds of hardy exercises, and to be led 
to battle under an illustrious banner. Such was especi- 
ally the case with the service of the Duke of Medina 
Celi, who possessed princely domains, whose household 
was a petty court, who led legions of armed retainers to 
the field, and who appeared in splendid state and with 
an immense retinue, more as an ally of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, than as a subject. He engaged in many of the 
roughest expeditions of the memorable war of Granada, 
always insisting on leading his own troops in person, 
when the service was of peculiar difficulty and danger. 
Alonzo de Ojeda was formed to signalize himself in such 
a school. Though small of stature, he was well made, 
and of wonderful force and activity, with a towering spi- 
rit and a daring eye that seemed to make up for defici- 
ency of height. He was a bold and graceful horseman, 
an excellent foot soldier, dexterous with every weapon, 
and noted for his extraordinary skill and adroitness in all 
feats of strength and agility. 

He must have been quite young when he followed the 
duke of Medina Celi, as page, to the Moorish wars ; for 
he was but about twenty-one years of age when he ac- 
companied Columbus in his second voyage ; he had 
already, however, distinguished himself by his enter- 
prizing spirit and headlong valour; and his exploits 
during that voyage contributed to enhance his reputa- 
tion. He returned to Spain with Columbus, but did not 
accompany him in his third voyage, in the spring of 1498. 
He was probably impatient of subordination, and ambi- 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 11 

tioiis of a separate employment or command^ which the 
influence of his connexions gave him a great chance of 
obtaining. He had a cousin german of his own name, 
the reverend Padre Alonzo de Ojeda, a Dominican friar, 
who was one of the first inquisitors of Spain, and a great 
favourite with the Catholic sovereigns.* This father 
inquisitor was, moreover, an intimate friend of the bishop 
Don Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, who had the chief manage- 
ment of the affairs of the Indies, under which general 
name were comprehended all the countries discovered in 
the new world. Through the good offices of his cousin 
inquisitor, therefore, Ojeda had been introduced to the 
notice of the bishop, who took him into his especial 
favour and patronage. Mention has already been made, 
in the History of Columbus, of a present made by the 
bishop to Ojeda of a small Flemish painting of the Holy 
Virgin. This the young adventurer carried about with 
him as a protecting relic, invoking it at all times of peril, 
whether by sea or land ; and to the special care of the 
Virgin he attributed the remarkable circumstance that he 
had never been wounded in any of the innumerable brawls 
and battles into which he was continually betrayed by his 
rash and fiery temperament. 

While Ojeda was lingering about the court, letters 
were received from Columbus, giving an account of the 
events of his third voyage, especially of his discovery of 
the coast of Paria, which he described as abounding with 
drugs and spices, with gold and silver, and precious 
stones, and, above all, with oriental pearls, and which he 
supposed to be the borders of that vast and unknown 
region of the East, wherein, according to certain learned 

* PizaiTo. Varones Ilustres. 



12 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

theorists, was situated the terrestrial paradise. Speci- 
mens of the pearls, procured in considerable quantities 
from the natives, accompanied his epistle, together with 
charts descriptive of his route. These tidings caused a 
great sensation among the maritime adventurers of Spain; 
but no one was more excited by them than Alonzo de 
Ojeda, who, from his intimacy with the bishop, had full 
access to the charts and correspondence of Columbus. 
He immediately conceived the project of making a voy- 
age in the route thus marked out by the admiral, and of 
seizing upon the first fruits of discovery which he had 
left ungathered. His scheme met with ready encour- 
agement from Fonseca, who, as has heretofore been 
shown, was an implacable enemy to Columbus, and willing 
to promote any measure that might injure or molest him. 
The bishop accordingly granted a commission to Ojeda, 
authorizing him to fit out an armament and proceed on a 
voyage of discovery, with the proviso merely that he 
should not visit any territories appertaining to Portugal, 
or any of the lands discovered in the name of Spain pre- 
vious to the year 1495. The latter part of this pro- 
vision appears to have been craftily worded by the bishop, 
so as to leave the coast of Paria and its pearl fisheries 
open to Ojeda, they having been recently discovered by 
Columbus in 1498. 

The commission was signed by Fonseca alone, in virtue 
of general powers vested in him for such purposes, but 
the signature of the sovereigns did not appear on the in- 
strument, and it is doubtful whether their sanction was 
sought on the occasion. He knew that Columbus had re- 
cently remonstrated against a royal mandate issued in 
1495, permitting voyages of discovery, by private adven- 
turers, and that the sovereigns had in consequence re- 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 13 

voked their mandate wherever it might be deemed pre- 
judicial to the stipulated privileges of the admiral.* It 
is probable, therefore, that the bishop avoided raising any 
question that might impede the enterprize ; being con- 
fident of the ultimate approbation of Ferdinand, who 
would be well pleased to have his dominions in the new 
world extended by the discoveries of private adventurers, 
undertaken at their own expense. It was stipulated in 
this, as well as in subsequent licenses for private expe- 
ditions, that a certain proportion of the profits, generally 
a fourth or fifth, should be reserved for the crown. 

Having thus obtained permission to make the voyage, 
the next consideration with Ojeda was to find the means. 
He was a young adventurer, a mere soldier of fortune, 
and destitute of wealth ; but he had a high reputation for 
courage and enterprise, and with these, it was thought, 
would soon make his way to the richest parts of the newly 
discovered lands, and have the wealth of the Indies at his 
disposal. • He had no difficulty, therefore, in finding 
monied associates among the rich merchants of Seville, 
who, in that age of discovery, were ever ready to stake 
their property upon the schemes of roving navigators. 
With such assistance he soon equipped a squadron of four 
vessels at Port St. Mary, opposite Cadiz. Among the 
seamen who engaged with him were several who had just 
returned from accompanying Columbus in his voyage to 
this very coast of Paria. The principal associate of 
Ojeda, and one on whom he placed great reliance, was 
Juan de la Cosa ; who accompanied him as first mate, or, 
as it was termed, chief pilot. This was a bold Biscayan, 
who may be regarded as^ a disciple of Columbus, with 

* Navarrete,- 1. ii. Document, cxiii. 



14 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVE^RY. [1499. 

whom he had sailed in his second voyage^, when he coast- 
ed Cuba and Jamaica, and he had since accompanied 
Rodrigo de Bastides, in an expedition along the coast of 
Terra Firma. The hardy veteran was looked up to* by 
his contemporaries as an oracle of the seas, and was pro- 
nounced one of the most able mariners of the day ; he 
may be excused, therefore, if in his harmless vanity, he 
considered himself on a par even with Columbus.* 

Another conspicuous associate of Ojeda, in this voyage, 
was Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, induced 
by broken fortunes and a rambling disposition to seek 
adventures in the new world. Whether he had any pe- 
cuniary interest in the expedition, and in what capacity 
he sailed, does not appear. His importance has entirely 
arisen from subsequent circumstances ; from his having 
written and published a narrative of his voyages, and from 
his name having eventually been given to the new world. 

* Navarrete. Collec. Viag. t. iii. p. 4. 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 15 



CHAPTER II. 

Departure from Spain — Arrival on the Coast of P aria — Customs of 

the Nations. 

Ojeda sailed from Port St. Mary on the 20th of May, 
1499, and, having touched for supplies at the Canaries, 
took a departure from Gomara, pursuing the route of Co- 
lumbus, in his third voyage, being guided by the chart 
he had sent home, as well as by the mariners who had ac- 
companied him on that occasion. At the end of twenty- 
four days he reached the continent of the new world, 
about two hundred leagues farther south than the part 
discovered by Columbus, being, as it is suppos'ed, the 
coast of Surinam.* 

From hence he ran along the coast of the Gulf of Paria, 
passing the mouths of many rivers, but especially those of 
the Esquivo and the Oronoko. These, to the astonish- 
ment of the Spaniards, unaccustomed as yet to the mighty 
rivers of the new world, poured forth such a prodigious 
volume of water, as to freshen the sea for a great extent. 
They beheld none of the natives until they arrived at the 
Island of Trinidad, on which island they met with tracess 
of the recent visit of Columbus. 

Vespucci, in his letters, gives a long description of the 
people of this island and of the coast of Paria, who were 
of the Carib race, tall, well made and vigorous, and ex- 
pert with the bow, the lance and the buckler. His de- 

* Navarrete. t. iii. p. 5. 



16 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

scription, in general, resembles those which have fre- 
quently been given of the Aboriginals of the new world ; 
there are two or three particulars, however, worthy of 
citation. 

They appeared, he said, to believe in no religious 
creed, to have no place of worship, and to make no pray- 
ers or sacrifices ; but, he adds, from the voluptuousness 
of their lives, they might be considered Epicureans.* 
Their habitations were built in the shape of bells ; of the 
trunks of trees, thatched with palm leaves, and were proof 
against wind and weather. They appeared to be in com- 
mon, and some of them were of such magnitude as to con- 
tain six hundred persons : in one place there were eight 
principal houses capable of sheltering nearly ten thousand 
inhabitants. Every seven or eight years the natives were 
obliged to change their reifidence, from the maladies en- 
gendered by the heat of the climate in their crowded ha- 
bitations. 

Their riches consisted in beads and ornaments made 
from the bones of fishes ; in small white and green stones 
strung like rosaries, with which they adorned their per- 
sons, and in the beautiful plumes of various colours for 
which the tropical birds are noted. 

The Spaniards smiled at their simplicity in attaching 
an extraordinary value to such worthless trifles; while 
the savages, in all probability, were equally surprised at 
beholding the strangers so eager after gold, and pearls 
and precious stones, which to themselves were objects of 
indifference. 

Their manner of treating the dead was similar to that 
observed among the natives of some of the islands. 

* Viages dc Vespucci. Navarrete. t. iii. p. 211. 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 17 

Having deposited the corpse in a cavern or sepulchre, 
they placed a jar of water and a few eatables at its head, 
and then abandoned it without moan or lamentation. In 
some parts of the coast j when a person was considered 
near his end, his nearest relatives bore him to the woods 
and laid him in a hammock suspended to the trees. They 
then danced round him until evening, when, having left 
within his reach sufficient meat and drink to sustain him 
for four days, they repaired to their habitations. If he 
recovered and returned home, he was received with much 
ceremony and rejoicing; if he died of his malady or of 
famine, nothing more was thought of him. 

Their mode of treating a fever is also worthy of men- 
tion. In the height of the malady they plunged the 
patient in a bath of the coldest water, after which they 
obliged him to make many evolutions round a great fire, 
until he was in a violent heat, when they put him to bed, 
that he might sleep : a treatment, adds Amerigo Ves- 
pucci, by which we saw many cured. 



18 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 



CHAPTER III. 

Coasting of Terra Firma — Military Expedition of Ojeda. 

After touching at various parts of Trinidad and the 
Gulf of Paria, Ojeda passed through the strait of the Boca 
del DragOj or Dragon's Mouth, which Columbus had 
found so formidable, and then steered his course along 
the coast of Terra Firma, landing occasionally until he 
arrived at Curiana, or the Gulf of Pearls. From hence 
he stood to the opposite island of Margarita, previously 
discovered by Columbus, and since renowned for its pearl 
fishery. This, as well as several adjacent islands, he 
visited and explored; after which he returned to the 
main land, and touched at Cumana and Maracapana, 
where he found the rivers infested with alligators resem- 
bling the crocodiles of the Nile. 

Finding a convenient harbour at Maracapana he un- 
loaded and careened his vessels there, and built a small 
brigantine. The natives came to him in great numbers, 
bringing abundance of venison, fish, and cassava bread, 
and aiding the seamen in their labours. Their hospitality 
was not certainly disinterested, for they sought to gain 
the protection of the Spaniards, whom they reverenced 
as superhuman beings. When they thought they had 
sufiiciently secured their favour, they represented to 
Ojeda that their coast was subject to invasion from a dis- 
tant island, the inhabitants of which were cannibals, and 
carried their people into captivity, to be devoured at 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEUA FIRST VOYAGE. 19 

their iiiiiiatural banquets. They besought Ojeda^, there- 
fore, to avenge them upon these ferocious enemies. 

The request was gratifying to the fighting propensities 
of Alonzo de Ojeda, and to his love of adventure, and 
was readily granted. Taking seven of the natives on 
board of his vessels, therefore, as guides, he set sail in 
quest of the cannibals. After sailing for seven days he 
came to a chain of islands, some of which were peopled, 
others uninhabited, and which are supposed to have been 
the Carribee islands. One of these was pointed, out by 
his guides as the habitation of their foes. On running 
near the shore he beheld it thronged, with savage war- 
riors, decorated with coronets of gaudy plumes,' their 
bodies painted with a variety of colours. They were 
armed with bows and arrows, with darts, lances, and 
bucklers, and seemed prepared to defend their island 
from invasion. 

This show of war was calculated to rouse the martial 
spirit of Ojeda. He brought his ships to anchor, order- 
ed out his boats, and provided each with a paterero or 
small cannon. Beside the oarsmen, each boat contained 
a number of soldiers, who were told to crouch out of 
sight in the bottom. The boats then pulled in steadily 
for the shore. As they approached the Indians let fly a 
cloud of arrows, but without much effect. Seeing the 
boats continue to advance, the savages threw themselves 
into the sea, and brandished their lances to prevent their 
landing. Upon this, the soldiers sprang up in the boats 
and discharged the patereroes. At the sound and smoke 
of these unknown weapons the savages abandoned the 
water in affright, while Ojeda and his men leaped on 
shore and pursued them. The Carib warriors rallied oti 
the banks, and fought for a long time with that courage 



20 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

peculiar to their race, but were at length driven to the 
woods, at the edge of the sword, leaving many killed and 
wounded on the field of battle. 

On the following day the savages were seen on the 
shore in still greater numbers, armed and painted, and 
decorated with war plumes, and sounding defiance with 
their conchs and drums. Ojeda again landed with fifty- 
seven men, whom he separated into four companies, and 
ordered them to charge the enemy from different direc- 
tions. The Caribs fought for a time hand to hand, dis- 
playing great dexterity in covering themselves with their 
bucklers, but were at length entirely routed and driven, 
with great slaughter, to the forests. The Spaniards had 
but one man killed and twenty -one wounded in these 
combats, — such superior advantage did their armour give 
them over the naked savages. Having plundered and 
set fire to the houses they returned triumphantly to their 
ships, with a number of Carib captives; and made sail 
for the main land. Ojeda bestowed a part of the spoil upon 
the seven Indians who had accompanied him as guides, 
and sent them exulting to their homes, to relate to their 
countrymen the signal vengeance that had been wreaked 
upon their foes. He then anchored in a bay where he 
remained for twenty days, until his men had recovered 
from their wounds.* 

* There is some discrepance in the early accounts of this battle, 
as to the time and place of its occurrence. The author has collat- 
ed the narratives of Vespucci, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter Mar- 
tyr, and the evidence given in the law-suit of Diego Columbus, and 
has endeavoured as much as possible to reconcile them. 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 21 



CHAPTER IV. 

Discovery of the Gulf if Venezuela — Tra?isactio?is there — Ojecfa 
explores the Gulf — Penetrates to Maracaibo. 

His crew being refreshed and the wounded sufficiently 
recovered^ Ojeda made sail, and touched at the island of 
Curazao, which, according to the accounts of Vespucci, 
was inhabited by a race of giants, '• every woman appear- 
ing a Penthesilea, and every man an Antaeus.'^* As 
Vespucci was a scholar, and as he supposed himself ex- 
ploring the regions of the extreme East, the ancient realm 
of fable, it is probable, his imagination deceived him, and 
construed the formidable accounts given by the Indians 
of their cannibal neighbours of the islands, into something 
according with his recollections of classic fable. Certain 
it is, that the reports of subsequent voyagers proved the 
inhabitants of the island to be of the ordinary size. 

Proceeding along the coast, he arrived at a vast deep 
gulf, resembling a tranquil lake ; entering which, he be- 
held on the eastern side a village, the construction of 
which struck him with surprise. It consisted of twenty 
large houses, shaped like bells, and built on piles driven 
into the bottom of the lake, which, in this part was lim- 
pid and of but little depth. Each house was provided 
with a drawbridge, and with canoes by v»^hich the commu- 
nication was carried on. From these resemblances to the 
Italian city, Ojeda gave to the bay the name of the Gulf 

* Vespucci. — Letter to Lorenzo dc Pier Francisco clc Medicis. 



22 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

of Venice : and it is called at the present day Venezuela, 
or little Venice; the Indian name was Coquibacoa. 

When the inhabitants beheld the ships standing into 
the bay, looking like wonderful and unknown apparitions 
from the deep, they fled with terror to their houses, and 
raised the drawbridges. The Spaniards remained for a 
time gazing with admiration at this amphibious village, 
when a squadron of canoes entered the harbour from the 
sea. On beholding the ships they paused in mute amaze- 
ment, and on the Spaniards attempting to approach them, 
paddled swiftly to shore, and plunged into the forest. 
They soon returned with sixteen young girls, whom they 
conveyed in their canoes to the ships, distributing four on 
board of each, either as peace-offerings or as tokens of 
amity and confidence. The best of understanding now 
seemed to be established ; and the inhabitants of the vil- 
lage came swarming about the ships in their canoes, and 
others swimming in great numbers from the shores. 

The friendship of the savages, however, was all delu- 
sive. On a sudden several old women at the doors of the 
houses uttered loud shrieks, tearing their hair in fury. 
It appeared to be a signal for hostility. The sixteen 
nymphs plunged into the sea and made for shore ; the In- 
dians in the canoes caught up their bows and discharged 
a flight of arrows, and even those who were swimming 
brandished darts and lances, which they had hitherto con- 
cealed beneath the water. 

Ojeda was for a moment surprised at seeing war thus 
starting up on every side, and the very sea bristling with 
weapons. Manning his boats, he immediately charged 
amongst the thickest of the enemy, shattered and sunk se- 
veral of their canoes, killed twenty Indians and wounded 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE.* 23 

many more, and spread such a panic among them, that 
most of the survivors flung themselves into the sea and 
swam to shore. Three of them were taken prisoners, and 
two of the fugitive girls, and were conveyed on board of the 
ships, where the men were put in irons. One of them, 
however, and the two girls, succeeded in dexterously es- 
caping the same night. 

Ojeda had but five men wounded in the affray; all of 
whom recovered. He visited the houses, but found them 
abandoned and destitute of booty; notwithstanding the 
unprovoked hostility of the inhabitants, he spared the 
buildings, that he might not cause useless irritation along 
the coast. 

Continuing to explore this gulf, Ojeda penetrated to a 
port or harbour, to which he gave the name of St. Bar- 
tholomew, but which is supposed to be the same at present 
known by the original Indian name of Maracaibo. Here, 
in compliance with the entreaties of the natives, he sent 
a detachment of twenty-seven Spaniards on a visit to the 
interior. For nine days they were conducted from town 
to town, and feasted and almost idolized by the Indians, 
who regarded them as angelic beings, performing their 
national dances and games, and chaunting their tradi- 
tional ballads for their entertainment. 

The natives of this part were distinguished for the 
symmetry of their forms ; the females in particular ap- 
peared to the Spaniards to surpass all others that they 
had yet beheld in the new world for grace and beauty ; 
neither did the men evince, in the least degree, that 
jealousy which prevailed in other parts of the coast; but, 
on the contrary, permitted the most frank and intimate 
intercourse with their wives and daughters. 

By the time the Spaniards set out on their return to 



24 • SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

the sliip, the whole country was aroused, pouring forth 
its population, male and female, to do them honour. Some 
l)ore them in litters or hammocks, that they might not he 
fatigued with the journey, and happy was the Indian who 
had the honour of hearing a Spaniard on his shoulders 
across a river. Others loaded themselves with the pres- 
ents that had heen bestowed on their guests, consisting of 
rich plumes, weapons of various kinds, and tropical birds 
and animals. In this way they returned in triumphant 
procession to the ships, the woods and shores resounding 
with their songs and shouts. 

Many of the Indians crowded into the boats that took 
the detachment to the ships j others put oif in canoes, or 
swam from shore, so that in a little while the vessels were 
thronged with upwards of a thousand wondering natives. 
While gazing and marvelling at the strange objects around 
them, Ojeda ordered the cannon to be discharged, at the 
sound of which, says Vespucci, the Indians " plunged 
into the water like so many frogs from a bank." Perceiv- 
ing, however, that it was done in harmless mirth, they 
returned on board, and passed the rest of the day in great 
festivity. The Spaniards brought away with them sev- 
eral of the beautiful and hospitable females from this place, 
one of whom, named by tliem Isabel, was much prized by 
Ojeda, and accompanied him in a subsequent voyage.* 

•» 

*NavaiTele, t. iii. p. 8. Idem, pp. 107, 108. 

It is worthy of particular mention that Ojeda, in liis report of 
his voyage to the Sovereigns, informed them of his having met 
with English voyagers in the vicinity of Coquibacoa, and that 
the Spanish government attached such importance to his informa- 
tion as to take measures to prevent any intrusion into those parts 
Jby the English. It is singular that no record should exist of this 
early and extensive expedition of English navigators. If it was 
undertaken in the service of the Crown, some document might be 
found concerning it among the archives of the reign of Henry 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 25 

VII. The English had already discovered the continent of North 
America. This had been done in 1497, by John Cabot, a Vene- 
tian, accompanied by his son Sebastian, who was bom in Bristol. 
They sailed under a license of Henry VII., who was to have a fifth 
of the profits of the voyage. On the 24th June they discovered 
Newfoundland, and afterwards coasted the continent quite to Flor- 
ida, bringing back to England a valuable cargo and several of the 
natives. TTiis was the first discovery of the mainland of America. The 
success of this expedition may have prompted the one which Ojeda 
encountered in the neighbourhood of Coquibacoa. 






4»»* 



26 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 



CHAPTER V. 

Prosecution of the Voyage — return to Spain. 

Leaving the friendly port of Coquibacoa, Ojeda con- 
tinued along the western shores of the gulf of Venezuela., 
and standing out to sea, and doubling Cape Maracaibo, he 
pursued his coasting voyage from port to port, and pro- 
montory to promontory, of this unknown continent, until 
he reached that long stretching headland called Cape de 
la Vela. There the state of his vessels, and perhaps the 
disappointment of his hopes at not meeting with abundant 
sources of immedia,te wealth, induced him to abandon all 
further voyaging along the coast, and changing his course, 
he stood across the Caribbean Sea for Hispaniola. The 
tenor of his commission forbade his visiting that island ; 
but Ojeda was not a man to stand upon trifles when his 
interest or inclination prompted the contrary. He trust- 
ed to excuse the infraction of his orders by the alleged 
necessity of touching at the island to caulk and refit his 
vessels, and to procure provisions. His true object, how- 
ever, is supposed to have been to cut dye-wood, which 
abounds in the western part of Hispaniola. 

He accordingly anchored at Yaquimo in September, 
and landed with a large party of his men. Columbus at 
that time held command of the island, and, hearing of 
this unlicensed intrusion, despatched Francesco Roldan, 
the quondam rebel, to call Ojeda to account. The con- 
test of stratagem and management that took place between 



1499.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. 27 

these two adroit and daring adventurers, has been already 
detailed in the History of Columbus. Roldan was even- 
tually successful, and Ojeda, being obliged to leave His- 
paniola, resumed his rambling voyage, visiting various 
islands, from whence he carried off numbers of the na- 
tives. He at length arrived at Cadiz in June 1500, with 
his ships crowded with captives, whom he sold as slaves. 
So meagre, however, was the result of this expedition, 
that we are told, when all the expenses were deducted, 
but five hundred ducats remained to be divided between 
fifty-five adventurers. What made this result the more 
mortifying was, that a petty armament which had sailed 
sometime after that of Ojeda, had returned two months 
before him, rich with the spoils of the New World. A 
brief account of this latter expedition is necessary to con- 
nect this series of minor discoveries. 



38 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 



PEDRO ALONZO Nl5[0* 



AND 



CHRISTOVAL GUERRA.— (1499.) 






The permision granted by Bishop Fonseca to Alonzo 
de Ojeda, to undertake a private expedition to the New 
World, roused the emulation of others of the followers of 
Columbus. Among these. was Pedro Alonzo Nino, a har- 
dy seaman, native of Moguer in the vicinity of Palos, 
who had sailed with Columbus, as a pilot, in his first voy- 
age, and also in his cruisings along the coasts of Cuba and 
Paria.f He soon obtained from the bishop a similar li- 
cense to that given to Ojeda, and like the latter, sought 
for some monied confederate among the rich merchants 
of Seville. One of these, named Luis Guerra, offered 
to fit out a caravel for the expedition ; but on condition 
that his brother, Christoval Guerra, should have the 
command. The poverty of Nino compelled him to as- 
sent to the stipulations of the man of wealth, and he sailed 
as subaltern in his own enterprise; but his nautical skill 
and knowledge soon gained him the ascendancy, he be- 

* Pronounced Ninyo. The N in Spanish is always pronounced 
as if followed by the letter y. 

t Testimony of Bastides in the law suit of Diego Columbus. 




1499.] PEDRO A. NINO AND CHRIST. GUERRA. 29 

came virtually the captain, and ultimately enjoyed the 
whole credit of the voyage. 

The bark of these two adventurers was but of fifty tons 
burthen, and the crew thirty- three souls all told. With 
this slender armament they undertook to traverse unknown 
and dangerous seas, and to explore the barbarous shores 
of that vast continent recently discovered by Columbus ;— 
such was the daring spirit of the Spanish voyagers of 
those days. 

It was about the beginning of June, 1499, and but a 
few days after the departure of Ojeda, that they put to 
sea. They sailed from the little port of Palos, the orig- 
inal cradle of American discovery, whose brave and skil- 
ful mariners long continued foremost in all enterprises to 
the New World. Being guided by the chart of Colum- 
bus, they followed his route, and reached the southern 
continent, a little beyond Paria, about fifteen days after 
the same coast had been visited by Ojeda. 

They then proceeded to the gulf of Paria, where they 
landed to cut dye-wood, and were amicably entertained 
by the natives. Shortly after, sallying from the gulf by 
the Boca del Drago, they encountered eighteen canoes of 
Caribs, the pirate rovers of these seas, and the terror of 
the bordering lands. This savage armada, instead of be- 
ing daunted, as usual, by the sight of a European ship, 
with swelling sails, resembling some winged monster of 
the deep, considered it only as an object of plunder or 
hostility, and assailed it with showers of arrows. The 
sudden burst of artillery, however, from the sides of the 
caravel, and the havoc made among the Caribs by this 
seeming thunder, struck them with dismay, and they fled 
in all directions. The Spaniards succeeded in capturing 
one of the canoes, with one of the warriors who had manned 



30 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

it. Ill the bottom of the canoe lay an Indian prisoner, 
bound hand and foot. On being liberated he informed 
the Spaniards by signs that these Caribs had been on a 
marauding expedition along the neighbouring coasts, shut- 
ting themselves up at night in a stockade which they car- 
ried with them, and issuing forth by day to plunder the 
villages and to make captives. He had been one of seven 
prisoners ; his companions had been devoured before his 
eyes at the cannibal banquets of these savages, and he had 
been awaiting the same miserable fate. Honest Nino and 
his confederates were so indignant at this recital, that, 
receiving it as established fact, they performed what they 
considered an act of equitable justice, by abandoning the 
Carib to the discretion of his late captive. The latter 
fell upon the defenceless warrior with fist and foot and 
cudgel; nor did his rage subside even after the breath 
had been mauled out of his victim, but, tearing the grim 
head from the body, he placed it on a pole, as a trophy of 
his vengeance. 

Niiio and his fellow-adventurers now steered for the 
island of Margarita, where they obtained a considerable 
quantity of pearls by barter. They afterwards skirted 
the opposite coast of Cumana, trading cautiously and 
shrewdly, from port to port ; sometimes remaining on 
board of their little bark, and obliging the savages to come 
off to them, when the latter appeared too numerous, at 
other times venturing on shore, and even into the inte- 
rior. They were invariably treated with amity by the 
natives, who were perfectly naked, excepting that they 
were adorned with necklaces and bracelets of pearls. 
These they sometimes gave freely to the Spaniards, at 
other times they exchanged them for glass beads and 



1499.] PEDRO A. NINO AND CHRIST. GUERRA. 31 

Other trinkets, and smiled at the folly of the strangers in 
making such silly bargains.* 

The Spaniards were struck with the grandeur and den- 
sity of the forests along this coast, for in these regions of 
heat and moisture, vegetation appears in its utmost mag- 
nificence. They heard also the cries and roarings of wild 
and unknown animals in the woodlands, which, however, 
appeared not to be very dangerous, as the Indians went 
about the forest armed solely with bows and arrows. 
From meeting with deer and rabbits, they were convinced 
that that was a part of Terra Firma, not having found 
any animals of the kind on the islands. f 

Nino and Guerra were so well pleased with the hos- 
pitality of the natives of Cumana, and with the profita- 
ble traffic for pearls, by which they obtained many of 
great size and beauty, that they remained upwards of 
three months on the coast. 

They then proceeded westward to a country called 
Cauchieto, trading, as usual, for pearls, and for the infe- 
rior kind of gold called guanin. At length they arrived 
at a place where there was a kind of fortress protecting 
a number of houses and gardens situated on a river, the 
whole forming, to the eyes of the Spaniards, one of the 
most delicious abodes imaginable. They were about to 
land and enjoy the pleasures of this fancied paradise, 
when they beheld upwards of a thousand Indians, armed 
with bows and arrows, and war clubs, preparing to give 
them a warm reception ; having been probably incensed 
by the recent visit of Ojeda. As Nino and Guerra had 
not the fighting propensities of Ojeda, and were in quest 
of profit rather than renown, having moreover, in all 

* LasCasas. Hist. Ind. lib. i. c. 171. 
t Navarrete, t. iii. p, 14. 



32 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

probability, the fear of the rich merchant of Seville be- 
fore their eyes, they prudently abstained from landing, 
and, abandoning this hostile coast, returned forthwith to 
Cumana, to resume their trade for pearls. They soon 
amassed a great number, many of which were equal 
in size and beauty, to the most celebrated of the east, 
though they had been injured in boring from a want of 
proper implements. 

Satisfied with their success, they now set sail for Spain, 
and. piloted their little bark safely to Bayonne in Gallicia, 
where they anchored about the middle of April, 1500, 
nearly two months before the arrival of Ojeda and his as- 
sociates. La Cosa and Vespucci.* 

The most successful voyagers to the New World were 
doomed to trouble from their very success. The ample 
amount of pearls paid to the treasury, as the royal portion 
of the profits of this expedition, drew suspicion instead 
of favour upon the two adventurers. They were ac- 
cused of having concealed a great part of the pearls col- 
lected by them, thus defrauding their companions and 
the crown. Pedro Alonzo Nirlo was actually thrown into 
prison on this accusation, but, nothing being proved against 
him, was eventually set free, and enjoyed the enviable 
reputation of having performed the richest voyage that 
had yet been made to the New World. f 

* Peter Martyr. Other historians give a different date for their 
arrival. Herrera says Feb. 6. 
t Navarrete. Collect, t. iii. p. 11. Hewera, d. i. 1. iv. c. v. 



1499.] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 33 



VICENTE YANEZ PINZON.— (1499.) 






Among the maritime adventurers of renown who were 
roused to action by the licenses granted for private expe- 
ditions of discovery ;, we find conspicuous the name of 
Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon of Palos, one of the three brave 
brothers who aided Columbus in his first voyage, and 
risked life and fortune with him in his doubtful and pe- 
rilous enterprise. 

Of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the eldest and most impor-, 
tant of these three brothers, particular mention has been 
made in the History of Columbus, and of the unfortunate 
error in conduct which severed him from the admiral, 
brought on him the displeasure of the sovereigns, and 
probably contributed to his premature and melancholy 
death. 

Whatever cloud of disgrace may have overshadowed 
his family, it was but temporary. The death of Martin 
Alonzo, as usual, atoned for his faults, and his good deeds 
lived after him. The merits and services of himself and 
his brothers were acknowledged, and the survivers of the 
family were restored to royal confidence. A feeling of 
jealous hostility prevented them from taking a part in the 
subsequent voyages of Columbus; but the moment the 
door was thrown open for individual enterprise, they 
pressed forward for permission to engage in it at their 
own risk and expense — and it was readily granted. In 

5 




34 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

fact^ their supposed hostility to Cohimbus was one of the 
surest recommendations they could have to the favour of 
the Bishop Fonseca^ by whom the license was issued for 
their expedition. 

Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon was the leader of this new en- 
terprise, and he was accompanied by two nephews, nam- 
ed Arias Perez and Diego Fernandez, sons of his late 
brother, Martin Alonzo Pinzon. Several of his sailors 
had sailed with Columbus in his recent voyage to Paria, 
as had also his three principal pilots, Juan Quintero, Juan 
de Umbria, and Juan de Jerez. Thus these minor voy- 
ages seemed all to emanate from the great expeditions of 
Columbus, and to aim at realizing the ideas and specula- 
tions contained in the papers transmitted by him to Spain. 

The armament consisted of four caravels, and was fitted 
out at the port of Palos. The funds of Vicente Yanez 
were completely exhausted before he had fitted out his 
little squadron ; he was obliged therefore to purchase on 
credit the^ea stores and articles of trafiic necessary for 
the enterprise. The merchants of Palos seem to have 
known how to profit by the careless nature of sailors and 
the sanguine spirit of discoverers. In their bargains they 
charged honest Pinzon eighty and a hundred per cent, 
above the market value of their merchandise, and in the 
hurry and urgency of the moment he was obliged to sub- 
mit to the imposition.* 

The squadron put to sea in the beginning of Decem- 
ber, 1499, and after passing the Canary and Cape de 
Verde Islands, stood to the south-west. Having sailed 
about seven hundred leagues, they crossed the equator 



* Nayarrete, vol, iii. See .Doc. No. 7: where Vicente Yanez Pin- 
zon petitions for redress. 



1499.] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 35 

and. lost sight of the north star. They had scarcely pass- 
ed the equinoctial line when they encountered a terrible 
tempest, which had well nigh swallowed up their slender 
barks. The storm passed away, and the firmament was 
again serene ; but the mariners remained tossing about in 
confusion, dismayed by the turbulence of the waves and 
the strange aspect of the heaVfens. They looked in vain 
to the south for some polar star by which to shape their 
course, and fancied that some swelling prominence of the 
globe concealed it from their view. They knew nothing 
as yet of the firmament of that hemisphere, nor of that 
beautiful constellation the southern cross, but expected 
to find a guiding star at the opposite pole, similar to the 
cynosure of the north. 

Pinzon, however, who was of an intrepid spirit, pursu- 
ed his course resolutely to the west, and after sailing about 
two hundred and forty leagues, and being in the eighth 
degree of southern latitude, he beheld land afar off on the 
28th of January, to which he gave the name of Sarita 
Maria de la Consolacion, from the sight of it having con- 
soled him in the midst of doubts and perplexities. It is 
now called Cape St. Augustine, and forms the most pro- 
minent part of the immense empire of Brazil. 

The sea was turbid and discoloured as in rivers, and 
on sounding they had sixteen fathoms water. Pinzon 
landed, accompanied by a notary and witnesses, and took 
formal possession of the territory for the Castilian crown ; 
no one appeared to dispute his pretensions, but he observ- 
ed the print of footsteps on the beach which seemed of 
gigantic size. 

At night there were fires lighted upon a neighbouring 
part of the coast, which induced Pinzon on the following 
morning to send forty men well armed to the spot. A 



'•t 



36 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

band of Indians, of about equal number, sallied forth to 
encounter them, armed with bows and arrows, and seem- 
ingly of extraordinary stature. A still greater number 
were seen in the distance hastening to the support of their 
companions. The Indians arrayed themselves for com- 
bat, and the two parties remained for a short time eyeing 
each other with mutual 'curiosity and distrust. The 
Spaniards now displayed looking glasses, beads, and other 
trinkets, and jingled strings of hawks' bells, in general so 
captivating to an Indian ear; but the haughty savages 
treated all their overtures with contempt, regarding these 
offerings carelessly for a short time, and then stalking off 
with stoic gravity. They were ferocious of feature, and 
apparently warlike in disposition, and are supposed to 
have been a wandering race of unusual size, who roamed 
about in the night, and were of the most fierce untractable 
nature. By nightfall there was not an Indian to be seen 
in the neighbourhood. 

Discouraged by the inhospitable character of the coast, 
Pinzon made sail and stood to the north-west, until he 
came to the mouth of a river too shallow to receive his 
ships. Here he sent his boats on shore with a number of 
men well armed. They landed on the river banks, and 
beheld a multitude of naked Indians on a neighbouring 
hill. A single Spaniard armed simply with sword and 
buckler, was sent to invite them to friendly intercourse. 
He approached them with signs of amity, and threw to 
them a hawks' bell. They replied to him with similar 
signs, and threw to him a small gilded wand. The sol- 
dier stooped to pick it up, when suddenly a troop of 
savages rushed down to seize him; he threw himself im- 
mediately upon the defensive, with sword and target, and 
tliaugh but a small man, and far from robust, he handled 



w 



1499.] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 37 

his weapons with such dexterity and fierceness, that he 
kept the savages at bay, making a clear circle round him, 
and wounding several who attempted to break it. His 
unlooked-for prowess surprised and confounded his as- 
sailants, and gave time for his comrades to come to his 
assistance. The Indians then made a general assault, 
with such a galling discharge of darts and arrows that al- 
most immediately eight or ten Spaniards were slain, and 
many more wounded. The latter Were compelled to 
retreat to their boats disputing every inch of ground. 
The Indians pursued them even into the water, surround- 
ing the boats and seizing hold of the oars. The Span- 
iards made a desperate defence, thrusting many through 
with their lances, and cutting down and ripping up others 
with their swords, but such was the ferocity of the survi- 
vers, that they persisted in their attack until they over- 
powered the crew of one of the boats, and bore it off in 
triumph. With this they retired from the combat, and 
the»Spaniards returned defeated and disheartened to their 
ships, having met with the roughest reception that the 
Europeans had yet experienced in the New World. 

Pinzon now stood forty leagues to the north-west, until 
he arrived in the neighbourhood of the equinoctial line. 
Here he found the water of the sea so fresh that he was 
enabled to replenish his casks with it. Astonished at so 
singular a phenomenon he stood in for the land, and ar- 
rived among a number of fresh and verdant islands inha- 
bited by a gentle and hospitable race of people, gaily 
painted, who came off to the ships with the most frank 
and fearless confidence. Pinzon soon found that these 
islands lay in the mouth of an immense river, more than 
thirty leagues in breadth, the water of which entered 
upwards of forty leagues into the sea before losing its 



m 



38 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

sweetness. It was in fact, the renowned Maranon, since 
known as the Orellana and the Amazon. While lying 
in the mouth of this river there was a sudden swel- 
ling of the stream, which, being opposed by the current 
of the sea, and straitened by the narrow channels of the 
islands, rose more than five fathoms, with mountain waves, 
and a tremendous noise, threatening the destruction of 
the ships. Pinzon extricated his little squadron with 
great difficulty from this perilous situation, and finding 
there was but little gold, or any thing else of value to be 
found among the simple jiatives, he requited their hos- 
pitality, in the mode too common among the early disco- 
verers, by carrying off thirty-six of them captive. 

Having regained the sight of the polar star, Pinzon 
pursued his course along the coast, passing the mouths of 
the Oronoko, and entering the Gulf of Paria, where he 
landed and cut Brazil wood. Sallying forth by the Boca 
del Drago, he reached the island of Hispaniola about the. 
23d of June, from whence he sailed for the Bahamas. 
Here, in the month of July, while at anchor, there came 
such a tremendous hurricane that two of the caravels 
were swallowed up with all their crews in the sight of 
their terrified companions : a third parted her cables 
and was driven out to sea, while the fourth was so furi- 
ously beaten by the tempest that the crew threw them- 
selves into the boats and made for shore. Here they 
found a few naked Indians, who offered them no moles- 
tation; but, fearing that they might spread the tidings of 
a handful of shipwrecked Spaniards being upon the coast, 
and thus bring the savages of the neighbouring islands 
upon them, a council of war was held whether it would 
not be a wise precaution to put these Indians to death. 
Fortunately for the latter, the vessel which had been 



1499.] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 39 

driven from her anchors returned and put an end to the 
alarm^ and to the council of war. The other caravel also 
rode out the storm uninjured, and the sea subsiding, the 
Spaniards returned on board, and made the best of their 
\yay to the Island of Hispaniola. Having repaired the 
damages sustained in the gale, they again made sail for 
Spain, and came to anchor in the river before Palos, 
about the end of September. 

Thus ended one of the most chequered and disastrous 
voyages that had yet been made to the New World. 
Yaflez Pinzon had lost two of his ships, and many of his 
men ; what made the loss of the latter more grievous was 
that they had been enlisted from among his neighbours, 
his friends, and relatives. In fact, the expeditions to 
the New World must have realized the terrors and ap- 
prehensions of the people of Palos by filling that little 
community with widows and orphans. When the rich 
merchants, who had sold goods to Pinzon, at a hundred 
per cent, advance, beheld him return in this sorry con- 
dition, with two shattered barks and a handful of poor, 
tattered, weathei^beaten seamen, they began to tremble 
for their money. No sooner, therefore, had he and his 
nephews departed to Granada, to give an account of their 
discoveries to the sovereigns, than the merchants seized 
upon their caravels and cargoes, and began to sell them, 
to repay themselves. Honest Pinzon immediately ad- 
dressed a petition to the government, stating the imposi- 
tion that had been practised upon him, and the danger he 
was in of imprisonment and utter ruin, should his credi- 
tors be allowed to sacrifice his goods at a public sale. He 
petitioned that they might be compelled to return the 
property thus seized, and that he might be enabled to 
sell three hundred and fifty quintals of Brazil wood, which 



40 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1500. 

he had brought back with him, and which would be suf- 
ficient to satisfy the demands of his creditors. The so- 
vereigns granted his prayer. They issued an order to 
the civil authorities of Palos to interfere in the matter, 
with all possible promptness and brevity, allowing no 
vexatious delay, and administering justice so impartially 
that neither of the parties should have cause to complain. 
Pinzon escaped from the fangs of his creditors, but, of 
course, must have suffered in purse from the expenses of 
the law ; which, in Spain is apt to bury even a successful 
client, under an overwhelming mountain of documents 
and writings. We infer this in respect to Pinzon from a 
royal order issued in the following year, allowing him to 
export a quantity of grain, in consideration of the heavy 
losses he had sustained in his voyage of discovery. He 
did but share the usual lot of the Spanish discoverers, 
whose golden anticipations too frequently ended in penu- 
ry ; but he is distinguished from among the crowd of them 
by being the first European who crossed the Equinoctial 
line, on the western ocean, and by discovering the great 
kingdom of Brazil.* 



* On the 5th of September, 1501, a royal permission was given 
to Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon to colonize and govern the lands he 
had discovered, beginning a little north of the river Amazon, and 
extending to Cape St. Augustine. The object of the government 
in this permission was to establish an outpost and a resolute com- 
mander on this southern frontier, that should check any intrusions 
the Portuguese might make in consequence of the accidental dis- 
covery of a part of the coast of Brazil by. Pedro Alvarez Cabral, 
in 1500. The subsequent arrangement of a partition line between 
the two countries prevented the necessity of this precaution, and it 
does not appear that Vicente Yanez Pinzon made any second voy- 
age to those parts. 

In 1506 he undertook an expedition in company with Juan Diaz 
de Solis, a native of Lebrija, the object of which was to endeavour to 
find the strait or passage supposed by Columbus to lead from the 
Atlantic to a southern ocean. It was necessarily without success, 



1500.] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 41 

as was also another voyage made by them, for the same purpose, 
1508. As no such passage exists, no blame could attach to the 
able navigators for being foiled in the object of their search. 

In consequence of the distinguished merits and services of the 
Pinzon family they were raised, by the emperor Charles V., to the 
dignity of a Hidalguia, or nobility, without any express title, and a 
coat of arms was granted them, on which were emblazoned three 
caravels, with a hand at the stern pointing to an island covered with 
savages. This coat of arms is still maintained by the family, who 
have added to it the motto granted to Columbus, merely substi- 
tuting the name of Pinzon for that of the Admiral, 
A Castile y a Leon, 
Nuevo Mundo dio P nzon. 



42 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1300. 



DIEGO DE LEPE 



AND 



RODRIGO DE BASTIDES.— (1500.) 



— ■••«©»"— 



NoTWiTiiSTANDTNG thc liai'dships and disasters that 
had beset the voyagers to the New World, and the penu- 
ry in wliich their golden anticipations had too frequently 
terminated, adventurers continued to press forward, ex- 
cited by fresh reports of newly discovered regions, each 
of which, in its turn, was represented as the real land of 
promise. Scarcely had Vicente Yafiez Pinzon departed 
on the voyage recently narrated, when his townsman 
Diego de Lepe likewise set sail with two vessels from the 
busy little port of Palos, on a like expedition. No par- 
ticulars of importance are known of this voyage, except- 
ing that Lepe doubled Cape St. Augustine, and beheld 
the southern continent stretching far to the southwest. On 
returning to Spain he drew a chart of the coast for the 
bishop Fonseca, and enjoyed the reputation, for upwards 
of ten years afterwards, of having extended his disco- 
veries further south than any other voyager. 

Another contemporary adventurer to the New World 
was Rodrigo de Bastides, a wealthy notary of Triana, the 
suburb of Seville inhabited by the maritime part of ijs 
population. Being sanctioned by the sovereigns, to whom 
he engaged to yield a fourth of his profits, he fitted out 



1300.] DIEGO DE LEPE AND UODUIGO DE EASTIDES. 43 

two caravels in October, 1500;, to go in quest of gold and 
pearls. 

Prudently distrusting his own judgment in nautical 
matters, this adventurous notary associated with him the 
veteran pilot Juan de la Cosa, the same hardy Biscayan 
who had sailed with Columbus and Ojeda. A general 
outline of their voyage has already been given in the life 
of Columbus; it extended the discoveries of the coast of 
Terra Firma from Cape de la Vela, where Ojeda had left 
off, quite to the port of Nombre de Dios. 

Bastides distinguished himself from the mass of disco- 
verers by his kind treatment of the natives, and Juan dc 
la Cosa by his sound discretion and his able seamanship. 
Their voyage had been extremely successful, and they 
had collected, by barter, a great amount of gold and pearls, 
when their prosperous career was checked by an unlook- 
ed-for evil. Their vessels to their surprise became leaky 
in every part, and they discovered to their dismay, that 
the bottoms were pierced in innumerable places by the 
broma, or worm, which abounds in the waters of the tor- 
rid zone, but of which they, as yet, had scarcely any 
knowledge. It was with great difficulty they could keep 
afloat until they reached a small islet on the coast of Hi- 
spaniola. Here they repaired their ships as well as they 
were able, and again put to sea to return to Cadiz. A 
succession of gales drove them back to port ; the ravages 
of the worms continued, the leaks broke out afresh ; they 
landed the most portable and precious part of their weal- 
thy cargoes, and the vessels foundered with the remain- 
der. Bastides lost, moreover, the arms and ammunition 
saved from the wreck, being obliged to destroy them lest 
they should fall into the hands of the Indians. 

Distributing his men into three bands, two of them 



44 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1500. 

headed by La Cosa and himself, they set off for San Do- 
mingo by three several routes, as the country was not 
able to furnish provisions for so large a body. Each band 
was provided with a coffer stored with trinkets and other 
articles of Indian traffic, with which to buy provisions on 
the road. 

Francisco de Bobadilla, the wrong-headed oppressor 
and superseder of Columbus, was at that time governor of 
San Domingo. The report reached him that a crew of 
adventurers had landed on the island, and were marching 
through the country in three bands, each provided with a 
coffer of gold, and carrying on illicit trade with the 
natives. The moment Bastides made his appearance, 
therefore, he was seized and thrown into prison, and an 
investigation commenced. In his defence he maintained 
that his only traffic with the natives was for the purpose 
of procuring provisions for his followers, or guides for 
his journey. It was determined, however, to send him 
to Spain for tnal, with the written testimony and the 
other documents of his examination. 

He was accordingly conveyed in the same fleet in 
which Bobadilla embarked for Spain, and which expe- 
rienced such an awful shipwreck in the sight of Columbus. 
The ship Rodrigo Bastides was one of the few that out- 
lived the tempest: it arrived safe at Cadiz in September, 
1502. Bastides was ultimately acquitted of the charges 
advanced against him. So lucrative had been his voyage, 
that, notwithstanding the losses sustained by the founder- 
ing of his vessels, he was enabled to pay a large sum to 
the crown as a fourth of his profits, and to retain a great 
amount for himself. In reward of his services and dis- 
coveries the sovereigns granted him an annual revenue 
for life, to arise from the proceeds of the province of 



1500.] DIEGO DE LEPE AND RODRIGO DE LASTIDES. 45 

Uraba, which he had discovered. An equal pension was 
likewise assigned to the hardy J.uan de la Cosa, to result 
from the same territory, of which he was appointed 
Alguazil Mayor.* Such was the economical generosity 
of king Ferdinand, who rewarded the past toils of his ad- 
venturous discoverers out of the expected produce of 
their future labours. 

* Navarrete. Collec. t. iii. 



46 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1502. 



SECOND VOYAGE OF ALONZO DE OJEDA. 

1502. 



The first voyage of Alonzo de Ojeda to the coast of 
Paria, and its meagre termination in June, 1500, has been 
related. He gained nothing in wealth by that expedi- 
tion, but he added to his celebrity as a bold and skilful 
adventurer. His youthful fire, his sanguine and swelling 
spirit, and the wonderful stories that were told of his ac- 
tivity and prowess, made him extremely popular, so that 
his patron, the bishop Fonseca, found it an easy matter to 
secure for him the royal favour. In consideration of his 
past services and of others expected from him, a grant 
was made to him of six leagues of land on the southern 
part of Hispaniola, and the government of the province of 
Coquibacoa which he had discovered. He was, further- 
more, authorized to fit out any number of ships, not ex- 
ceeding ten, at his own expense, and to prosecute .the dis- 
covery of the coast of Terra Firma. He was not to touch 
or traflic on the pearl coast of Paria ; extending as far as 
a bay in the vicinity of the island of Margarita. Beyond 
this he had a right to trade in all kinds of merchandise, 
whether of pearls, jewels, metals, or precious stones; 
paying one fifth of tlie profits to the crown, and abstain- 
ing from making slaves of the Indians without a special 
license from the sovereigns. He was to colonize Coqui- 
bacoa, and, as a recompense, was to enjoy one half of the 
proceeds of his territory, provided the half did not ex- 



1502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA SECOND VOYAGE. 47 

ceed 300,000 maravedies : all beyond that amount was to 
go to the crown. 

A principal reason, however, for granting this govern- 
ment and those privileges to Ojeda, was that, in his pre- 
vious voyage, he had met with English adventurers on a 
voyage of discovery in the neighbourhood of Coquibacoa, 
at which the jealousy of the sovereigns had taken the 
alarm. They were anxious, therefore, to establish a reso- 
lute and fighting commander like Ojeda upon this outpost, 
and they instructed him to set up the arms of Castile and 
Leon in every place he visited^ as a signal of discovery 
and possession, and to put a stop to the intrusions of the 
English.* 

With this commission in his pocket, and the govern- 
ment of an Indian territory in the perspective, Ojeda 
soon found associates to aid him in fitting out an arma- 
ment. These were Juan de Vergara, a servant of a rich 
canon of tlie cathedral of Seville, and Garcia de Campos, 
commonly called Ocampo. They made a contract of 
partnership to last for two years, according to which the 
expenses and profits of the expedition, and of the gov- 
ernment of Coquibacoa were to be shared equally between 
them. The purses of the confederates were not ample 
enough to aflTord ten ships, but they fitted out four. 1st, 
The Santa Maria de la Antigua, commanded by Garcia 
del Campo ; 2d, The Santa Maria de la Granada, com- 
manded by Juan de Vergara ; 3d, The Caravel Magda- 
lena, commanded by Pedro de Ojeda, nephew to Alon- 
zo; and 4th, The Caravel Santa Ana, commanded by 
Hernando de Guevara. The whole was under the com- 
mand of Alonzo de Ojeda. The expedition set sail in 
1502, touched at the Canaries, according to custom, to 

Navarrcto, 1. iii. document x. 



48 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1502. 

take in provisions, and then proceeded westward for the 
shores of the New World. 

After traversing the Gulf of Paria, and before reach- 
ing the Island of Margarita, the caravel Santa Ana, com- 
manded by Hernando de Guevara, was separated from 
them, and for several days the ships were mutually seek- 
ing each other, in these silent and trackless seas. After 
they were all reunited they found their provisions grow- 
ing scanty, they landed therefore at a part of the coast 
called Cumana by the natives, but to which, from its 
beauty and fertility, Ojeda gave the name of Valfermoso. 
While foraging here for their immediate supplies, the 
idea occurred to Ojeda that he should want furniture and 
utensils of all kinds for his proposed colony, and that it 
would be better to pillage them from a country where he 
was a mere transient visitor, than to wrest them from his 
neighbours in the territory where he was to set up his 
government. His companions were struck with the poli- 
cy, if not the justice, of this idea, and they all set to 
work to carry it into execution. Dispersing themselves, 
therefore, in ambush in various directions, they at a con- 
certed signal rushed forth from their concealment, and 
set upon the natives. Ojeda had issued orders to do as 
little injury and damage as possible, and on no account to 
destroy the habitations of the Indians. His followers, 
however, in their great zeal, transcended his orders. 
Seven or eight Indians were killed and many wounded 
in the skirmish which took place, and a number of their 
cabins were wrapped in flames. A great quantity of 
hammocks, of cotton, and of utensils of various kinds, 
fell into the hands of the conquerors; they also cap- 
tured several female Indians, some of whom were ran- 
somed with the kind of gold called guanin ; some were 



1502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA SECOND VOYAGE. 49 

retained by Vergara for himself and his friend Ocampo, 
others were distributed among the crews, the rest, proba- 
bly the old and ugly, were set at liberty. As to Ojeda, 
he reserved nothing for himself of the spoil excepting a 
single hammock. 

The ransom paid by the poor Indians for some of their 
effects and some of their women, yielded the Spaniards a 
trifling quantity of gold, but they found the place des- 
titute of provisions, and Ojeda was obliged to despatch 
Vergara in a caravel to the island of Jamaica to forage for 
supplies, with instructions to rejoin him at Maracaibo or 
Cape de la Vela. 

Ojeda at length arrived at Coquibacoa, at the port des- 
tined for his seat of government. He found the country, 
however, so poor and sterile, that he proceeded along the 
coast to a bay which he named Santa Cruz, but which is 
supposed to be the same at present called Bahia Honda, 
where he found a Spaniard who had been left in the pro- 
vince of Citarma by Bastides in his late voyage about thir- 
teen months before, and had remained ever since among 
the Indians, so that he had acquired their language. 

Ojeda determined to form his settlement at this place; 
but the natives seemed disposed to defend their territory, 
for, the moment a party landed to procure water, they 
were assailed by a galling shower of arrows, and driven 
back to the ships. Upon this Ojeda landed with all his 
force, and struck such terror into the Indians, that they 
came forward with signs of amity, and brought a consid- 
erable quantity of gold as a peace-offering, which was 
graciously accepted. 

Ojeda, with the concurrence of his associates, now set 
to work to establish a settlement, cutting down trees, and 
commencing a fortress. They had scarce begun, when 
7 



50 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1502. 

they were attacked by a neighbouring cacique, but Ojeda 
sallied forth upon him with such intrepidity and effect as 
not merely to defeat, but to drive him from the neighbour- 
hood. He then proceeded quietly to finish his fortress, 
which was defended by lombards, and contained the mag- 
azine of provisions and the treasure amassed in the expe- 
dition. The provisions were dealt out twice a day, under 
the inspection of proper officers ; the treasure gained by 
barter, by ransom, or by plunder, was deposited in a strong 
box secured by two locks, one key being kept by the royal 
supervisor, the other by Ocampo. 

In the mean time provisions became scarce. The In- 
dians never appeared in the neighbourhood of the fortress, 
except to harass it with repeated though ineffectual assaults. 
Vergara did not appear with the expected supplies from 
Jamaica, and a caravel was desp"atched in search of him. 
The people, worn out with labour and privations of. va- 
rious kinds, and disgusted with the situation of a settle- 
ment, which was in a poor and unhealthy country, grew 
discontented and factious. They began to fear that they 
should lose the means of departing, as their vessels were 
in danger of being destroyed by the broma or worms. 
Ojeda led them forth repeatedly upon foraging parties 
about the adjacent country, and collected some provisions 
and booty in the Indian villages. The provision he de- 
posited in the magazine, part of the spoils he divided 
among his followers, and the gold he locked up in the 
strong box, the keys of which he took possession of, to 
the great displeasure of the supervisor and his associate 
Ocampo. The murmurs of the people grew loud as their 
sufferings increased. They insinuated that Ojeda had 
no authority over this part of the coast, having passed the 
boundaries of his government, and formed his settlement 



1502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA SECOND VOYAGE. 51 

in the country discovered by Bastides. By the time 
Vergara arrived from Jamaica, the factions of this petty 
colony had risen to an alarming height. Ocampo had a 
personal enmity to the governor, arising probably from 
some feud about the strong box ; being a particular friend 
of Vergara, he held a private conference with him, and 
laid a plan to entrap the doughty Ojeda. In pursuance 
of this the latter was invited on board of the caravel of 
Vergara, to see the provisions he had brought from Ja- 
maica, but no sooner was he on board than they charged 
him with having transgressed the limits of his govern- 
ment, with having provoked the hostility of the Indians, 
and needlessly sacrificed the lives of his followers, and 
above all with having taken possession of the strong box, 
in contempt of the authority of the royal supervisor, and 
with the intention of appropriating to himself all the 
gains of the enterprise ; they informed him therefore of 
their intention to convey him a prisoner to Hispaniola, to 
answer to the Governor for his offences. Ojeda finding 
himself thus entrapped, proposed to Vergara and Ocam- 
po that they should return to Spain with such of the 
crews as chose to accompany them, leaving him with the 
remainder to prosecute his enterprise. The two recreant 
partners at first consented, for they were disgusted with 
the enterprise which offered little profit and severe hard- 
ships. They agreed to leave Ojeda the smallest of the 
caravels, with a third of the provisions and of their gains, 
and to build a row boat for him. They actually began to 
labour upon the boat. Before ten days had elapsed, 
however, they repented of the arrangement, the ship- 
carpenters were ill, there were no caulkers, and more- 
over they recollected that as Ojeda, according to their 
representations, was a defaulter to the crown, they would 



52 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1502, 

be liable as his sureties, should they return to Spain with- 
out him. They concluded, therefore, that the wisest 
plan was to give him nothing, but to carry him off pri- 
soner. 

When Ojeda learned the determination of his wary 
partners, he attempted to make his escape and get off 
to St. Domingo, but he was seized, thrown in irons, 
and conveyed on board of the caravel. The two part- 
ners then set sail from Santa Cruz, bearing off the whole 
community, its captive governor, and the litigated strong 
box. 

They put to sea about the beginning of September, and 
arrived at the western part of the island of Hispaniola. 
While at anchor within a stone's throw of the land, Ojeda, 
confident in his strength and skill as a swimmer, let himself 
quietly slide down the side of the ship into the water during 
the night, and attempted to swim for the shore. His arms 
were free, but his feet were shackled, and the weight of 
his irons threatened to sink him. He was obliged to shout 
for help ; a boat was sent from the vessel to his relief, and 
the unfortunate governor was brought back half drowned 
to his unrelenting partners.* 

The latter now landed and delivered their prisoner in* 
to the hands of Gallego, the commander of the place, to 
be put at the disposal of the governor of the island. In 
the mean time the strong box, which appears to have been 
at the bottom of all these feuds, remained in the posses- 
sion of Vergara and Ocampo, who, Ojeda says, took from 
it whatever they thought proper, without regard to the 
royal dues, or the consent of the royal supervisor. They 
were all together, prisoner and accusers, in the city of 

* Hist. Gen. de Viages. Herrera, Hist. Ind. 



1502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA SECOND VOYAGE. 53 

San Domingo, about the end of September, 1502, when 
the chief judge of the island, after hearing both parties, 
gave a verdict against Ojeda that stripped him of all his 
effects, and brought him into debt to the crown for the 
royal proportion of the profits of the voyage. Ojeda ap- 
pealed to the sovereign, and, after some time was honour- 
ably acquitted, by the royal council, from all the char- 
ges, and a mandate was issued in 1503, ordering a resti- 
tution of his property. It appears, however, that the 
costs of justice, or rather of the law, consumed his share 
of the treasure of the strong box, and that a royal order 
was necessary to liberate him from the hands of the gov- 
ernor; so that like too many other litigants, he finally 
emerged from the labyrinths of the law a triumphant cli- 
ent, but a ruined man. 



54 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



THIRD VOYAGE 



OF 



ALONZO DE OJEDA. 



@ev 



Ojeda applies for a Command — Has a rival Candidate in Diego 
de JVicuesa — His success. 

For several years after his ruinous^ though successful 
lav/suit, we lose all traces of Alonzo de Ojeda, excepting 
that we are told he made another voyage to the' vicinity 
of Coquibacoa, in 1505. No record remains of this ex- 
pedition, which seems to have been equally unprofitable 
with the preceding, for we find him in 1508, in the 
island of Hispaniola, as poor in purse, though as proud in 
spirit, as ever. In fact, however fortune might have 
favoured him, he had a heedless squandering disposition 
that would always have kept him poor. 

About this time the cupidity of King* Ferdinand was 
greatly excited by the accounts which had been given by 
Columbus, of the gold mines of Veragua, in which the ad- 
miral fancied he had discovered the Aurea Ch«rsonesus 
of the ancients, from whence King Solomon procured the 
gold, used in building the temple of Jerusalem. Subse- 
quent voyagers had corroborated the opinion of Columbus 
as to the general riches of the coast of Terra Firma; 
King Ferdinand resolved, therefore, to found regular 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 55 

colonies along that coast and to place the whole under 
some capable commander. A project of the kind had 
been conceived by Columbus, when he discovered that 
region in the course of his last voyage, and the reader 
may remember the disasters experienced by his brother 
Don Bartholomew and himself, in endeavouring to estab- 
lish a colony on the hostile shores of Veragua. The ad- 
miral being dead, the person who should naturally have 
presented himself to the mind of the sovereign for this 
particular service was Don Bartholomew, but the wary 
and selfish monarch knew the Adelantado to be as lofty in 
his terms as his late brother, and preferred to accomplish 
his purposes by cheaper agents. He was unwilling, also, 
to increase the consequence of a family, whose vast, but 
just, claims were already a cause of repining to his sor- 
did and jealous spirit. He looked round, therefore, 
among the crowd of adventurers, who had sprung up in 
the school of Columbus, for some individual who might 
be ready to serve him on more accommodating terms. 
Among those, considered by their friends as most fitted 
for this purpose, was Alonzo de Ojeda, for his roving voy- 
ages and daring exploits had made him famous among the 
voyagers ; and it was thought that an application on his 
part would be attended with success, for he was known 
to possess a staunch friend at court in the Bishop Fonseca. 
Unfortunately he was too far distant to urge his suit to the 
bishop, and what was worse, he was destitute of money. 
At this juncture there happened to be at Hispaniola the 
veteran navigator and pilot Juan de la Cosa, who was a 
kind of Nestor in all nautical affairs.* The hardy Bis- 



* Peter Martyr gives the following weighty testimony to the 
knowledge and skill of this excellent seamen : — " Of the Spaniards, 



56 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

cayan had sailed with Ojeda, and had conceived a great 
opinion of the courage and talents of the youthful adven- 
turer. He had contrived, also, to fill his purse in the 
course of his cruising, and now, in the generous spirit of 
a sailor, offered to aid Ojeda with it in the prosecution of 
his wishes. 

His offer was gladly accepted ; it was agreed that Juan 
de la Cosa should depart for Spain, to promote the ap- 
pointment of Ojeda to the command of Terra Firma, and, 
in case of success, should fit out, with his own funds, the 
necessary armament. 

La Cosa departed on his embassy; he called on the 
Bishop Fonseca, who, as had been expected, entered 
warmly into the views of his favourite Ojeda, and recom- 
mended him to the ambitious and bigot king, as a man 
well fitted to promote his empire in the wilderness, and 
to dispense the blessings of Christianity among the savages. 

The recommendation of the bishop was usually effec- 
tual in the affairs of the New World, and the opinion of 
the veteran de la Cosa had great weight even with the 
sovereign; but a rival candidate to Ojeda had presented 
himself, and one who had the advantage of higher con- 
nexions and greater pecuniary means. This was Diego 
de Nicuesa, an accomplished courtier of noble birth, who 
had filled the post of grand carver to Don Enrique Enri- 



as many as thought themselves to have any knowledge of what 
pertained to measure the land and sea, drew cardes (charts) on 
parchment as concerning these navigations. Of all others they 
most esteem them which Juan de la Cosa, the companion of Ojeda, 
and another pilot, called Andres Morales, had set forth, and this, 
as well for the great experience which both had, {to whom these 
tracks were as well known as the chambers of their own houses,) as also 
that they were thought to be cunninger in that part of cosmog- 
raphy which teacheth the description and measuring of the sea." 

P. Martyr, Decad. ii. c. 10. 



1509.] ALONZO DF OJEDA. THIRD VOYAGE. 57 

quez^ uncle of the king. Nature, education, and habit 
seemed to have combined to form Nicuesa as a complete 
rival of Ojeda. Like him he was small of stature, but 
remarkable for symmetry and compactness of form and 
for bodily strength and activity ; like him he was master 
at all kinds of weapons, and skilled, not merely in feats of 
agility, but in those graceful and chivalrous exercises, 
which the Spanish cavaliers of those days had inherited 
from the Moors ; being noted for his vigour and address 
in the jousts or tilting matches after the Moresco fashion. 
Ojeda himself could not surpass him in feats of horseman- 
ship, and particular mention is made of a favourite mare, 
which hecould make caper and carricol in strict cadence 
to the souni of a viol ; beside all this, he was versed in 
the legendary ballads or romances of his country, and was 
renowned as a capital performer on the guitar! Such 
were the qualifications of this candidate for a command in 
the wilderness, as enumerated by the revereiid Bishop 
Las Casas. It is probable, however, that he had given 
evidence of qualities mui-e adapted to the desired post; 
having already been out to Hispaniola in the military 
train of the late Governor Ovando. 

Where merits were so singularly balanced as those of 
Ojeda and Nicuesa, it might have been difficult to 
decide ; King Ferdinand avoided the dilemma by favour- 
ing both of the candidates ; not indeed by furnishing them 
with ships and money, but by granting patents and digni- 
ties which cost nothing, and might bring rich returns. 
' He divided that part of the continent which lies along 
the Isthmus of Darien into two provinces, the boundary 
line running through the Gulf of Uraba. The eastern 
part, extending to Cape de la Vela was called New An- 
dalusia, and the government of it given to Ojeda. The 

8 



58 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

other to the west, including Veragua, and reaching to 
Cape Gracias a Dios, was assigned to Nicuesa. The island 
of Jamaica was given to the two governors in common^ as 
a place from whence to draw supplies of provisions. 
Each of the governors was to erect two fortresses in his 
district, and to enjoy for ten years the profits of all the 
mines he should discover, paying to the crown one tenth 
part the first year, one ninth the second, one eighth the 
third, one seventh the fourth, and one fifth part in each 
of the remaining years. 

Juan de la Cosa, who had been indefatigable in pro- 
moting the suit of Ojeda, was appointed his lieutenant in 
the government, with the post of Alguazil Mayor of the 
province. He immediately freighted a ship and two 
brigantines, in which he embarked with about two hun- 
dred men. It was a slender armament, but the purse of 
the honest voyager was not very deep, and that of Ojeda 
was empty. Nicuesa, having ampler means, armed four 
large vessels and two brigantines, furnished them with 
abundant munitions and supplies, both for the voyage and 
the projected colony, enlisted a much greater force, and 
set sail in gay and vaunting style, for the golden shores of 
Veragua, the Aurea Chersonesus of his imagination. 



1509.] ALONZp DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 59 



CHAPTER II. 

Feud between the Rival Governors Ojeda and JVicuesa — A Chal- 
lenge.— {1509.) 

The two rival armaments arrived at San Domingo 
about the same time. Nicuesa had experienced what was 
doubtless considered a pleasant little turn of fortune by 
the way. Touching at Santa Cruz, one of the Carribee 
islands, he had succeeded in capturing a hundred of the 
natives, whom he had borne off" in his ships to be sold as 
slaves at Hispaniola. This was deemed justifiable in those 
days, even by the most scrupulous divines, from the be- 
lief that the Caribs were all anthropophagi, or man-eaters; 
fortunately the opinion of mankind, in this more enlight- 
ened age, makes but little difference in atrocity between 
the cannibal and the kidnapper; 

Alonzo de Ojeda welcomed with joy the arrival of his 
nautical friend and future lieutenant in the government, 
the worthy Juan de la Cosa; still he could not but feel 
some' mortification at the inferiority of his armament to 
that of his rival Nicuesa, whose stately ships rode proudly 
at anchor in the harbor of San Domingo. He felt, too, 
that his means were inadequate to the establishment of his 
intended colony. Ojeda, however, was not long at a loss 
for pecuniary assistance. Like many free spirited men, 
who are careless and squandering of their own purses, he 
had a facility at commanding the purses of his neigh- 
bours. Among the motley population of San Domingo 



# 



60 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1309. 

there was a lawyer of some abilities, the Bachelor Martin 
Fernandez de Enciso, who had made two thousand castil- 
lanos by his pleading;* for it would appear that the 
spirit of litigation was one of the first fruits of civilized 
life transplanted to the New World, and flourished sur- 
prisingly among the Spanish colonists. 

Alonzo de Ojeda became acquainted with the Bache- 
lor, and finding him to be of a restless and speculative 
character, soon succeeded in inspiring him with a con- 
tempt for the dull but secure and profitable routine of his 
office in San Domingo, and imbuing him with his own 
passion for adventure. Above all he dazzled him with 
the offer to make him Alcalde Mayor, or chief judge of 
the provincial government he was about to establish in 
the wilderness. 

In an evil hour the aspiring Bachelor yielded to the 
temptation, and agreed to invest all his money in the en- 
terprise. It was agreed that Ojeda. should depart with 
the armament which had arrived from Spain, while the 
Bachelor should remain at Hispaniola to beat up for re- 
cruits and provide supplies; with these he was to embark 
in a ship purchased by himself, and proceed to join his 
high-mettled friend at the seat Of his intended colony. 
Two rival governors, so well matched as Ojeda andNicu- 
esa, and both possessed of swelling spirits, pent up in 
small but active bodies, could not remain long in a little 
place like San Domingo without some collision. The 
island of Jamaica which had been assigned to them in 
common, furnished the first ground of contention; the 
province of Darien furnished another, each pretending to 
include it within the limits of his jurisdiction. Their 

* Equivalent to 10,650 dollars of the present day. 



1509.] ALONZO DE pJEDA. THIRD VOYAGE, 61 

disputes on these points ran so high that the whole place 
resounded with them. In talking, however, Nicuesa 
had the advantage ; having been brought up in the court 
he was more polished and ceremonious, had greater self- 
command, and probably perplexed his rival governor in 
argument. Ojeda was no great casuist, but he was an 
excellant swordsman, and always ready to fight his way 
through any question of right or dignity which he could 
not clearly argue with the tongue ; so he proposed to set- 
tle the dispute by single combat. Nicuesa, though 
equally brave was more a man of tKe world, and saw the 
folly of such arbitrament. Secretly smiling at the heat 
of his antagonist, he proposed as a preliminary tQ the 
duel, and to furnish something worth fighting for, that 
each should deposit five thousand castillanos, to be the 
prize of the victor. This, as he foresaw, was a tempo- 
rary check upon the fiery valour of his rival, who did 
no,t possess a pistole in his treasury: but probably was 
too proud to confess it. 

It is not likely, however, that the impetuous spirit of 
Ojeda would long have remained in check, had not the 
discreet Juan de la Cosa interposed to calm it. It is in- 
teresting to notice the great ascendency possessed by this 
veter«i navigator over his fiery associate. Juan de la 
Cosa vwis a man whose strong natural good sense had been 
quickened by long and hard experience ; whose courage 
was above all question, but tempered by time and trial. 
He seems to have been personally attached to Ojeda, as 
veterans who have outlived the rash impulse of youthful 
valour, are apt to love the fiery quality in their younger 
associates. So long as he accompanied Ojeda in his en- 
terprises Jie stood by him as a Mentor in council, and a 
devoted partisan in danger. 



laf- 



^■'- 



62 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

In the present instance the interference of this veteran 
of the seas had the most salutary effect : he prevented the 
impending duel of the rival governors^, and persuaded 
them to agree that the river Darien should be the boun- 
dary line between their respective jurisdictions. 

The dispute relative to Jamaica was settled by the 
Admiral, Don Diego Columbus himself. He had already 
felt aggrieved by the distribution of these governments 
by the king without his consent or even knowledge, being 
contrary to the privileges which he inherited from his 
father, the discoverer. It was in vain to contend, how- 
ever, when the matter was beyond his reach and involved 
in technical disputes. But as to the island of Jamaica, it 
in a manner lay at his own door, and he could not brook 
its being made a matter of gift to these bifewling gover- 
nors. Without waiting the slow and uncertain course of 
making remonstrances to the king, he took the affair, as a 
matter of plain right, into his own hands, and ordered a 
brave officer, Juan de Esquibel, the same who had subju- 
gated the province of Higuey, to take possession of that 
island, with seventy men, and to hold it subject to his 
command. 

Ojeda did not hear of this arrangement until he was on 
the point of embarking to make sail. In the heat«f the 
moment he loudly defied the power of the admipal, and 
swore that if he ever found Juan de Esquibel on the island 
of Jamaica he would strike off his head. The populace 
present heard this menace, and had too thorough an idea 
of the fiery and daring character of Ojeda to doubt that 
he would carry it into effect. Notwithstanding his bra- 
vado, however, Juan de Esquibel proceeded according to 
his orders to take possession of the island of Jaijiaica. 

The squadron of Nicuesa lingered for some time after 



.^ 



1309.] ALONZO DE OJEDA. THIRD VOYAGE.* 63 

the sailing of his rival. His courteous and engaging 
manners, aided by the rumour of great riches in the pro- 
vince of Veragua, where he intended to found his colony, 
had drawn numerous volunteers to his standard, insomuch 
that he had to purchase another ship to convey them. 

Nicuesa was more of the courtier and the cavalier, 
than the man of business, and had no skill in managing 
his pecuniary affairs. He had expended his funds with a 
free and lavish hand, and involved himself in debts which 
he had not the immediate means of paying. Many of his 
creditors knew that his expedition was regarded with an 
evil eye by the Admiral, Don Diego Columbus ; to gain 
favour with the latter, there'fore, they threw all kinds of 
impediments in the way of Nicuesa. Never was an un- 
fortunate gentleman more harassed and distracted by duns 
and demands, one plucking at his skirts as soon as the 
other was satisfied. He succeeded, however, in getting 
all his forces embarked. He had seven hundred men, 
well chosen and well armed, together with six- horses. 
He chose Lope de Olano to be his captain general, a 
seemingly .impolitic appointment, as this Olano had been 
concerned with the notorious Roldan in his rebellion 
against Columbus. 

The squadron sailed out of the harbour and put to sea, 
excepting one ship, which, with anchor a- trip and sails 
unfurled, waited to receive Nicuesa, who was detained on 
shore until the last moment by the perplexities which 
had been artfully multiplied around him. 

Just as he was on the point of stepping into his boat hqj 
was arrested by the harpies of the law, and carried before 
the Alcalde Mayor to answer a demand for five hundred 
ducats, which he was ordered to pay on the spot, or 
prepare to go to prison. 



64 • SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509.. 

This was a thunderstroke to the unfortunate cavalier. In 
vain he represented his utter incapacity to furnish such a 
sum at the moment; in vain he represented the ruin that 
would accrue to himself and the vast injury to the public 
service, should he be prevented from joining his expedi- 
tion. The Alcalde Mayor was inflexible, and Nicuesa 
was reduced to despair. At this critical moment relief 
came from a most unexpected quarter. The heart of a 
public notary was melted by his distress ! He stepped 
forward in court and declared that riather than see so gal- 
lant a gentleman reduced to extremity he himself would 
pay down the money. Nicuesa gazed at him with as- 
tonishmentj and could scarce'believe his senses, but when 
he saw him actually pay oif the debt and found himself 
suddenly released from this dreadful embarrassment, he 
embraced his deliverer with tears of gratitude, and hast- 
ened with all speed to embark, lest some other legal spell 
should be laid upon his person. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 65 



CHAPTER III. 

Exploits and Disasters of Ojeda on the Coast of Carthagena — Fate 
of the veteran Juan de la Cosa. — (1509.) 

It was on the 10th of November, 1509, that Alonzo 
de Ojeda set sail from San Domingo with two ships, two 
brigantines, and three hundred men. He took with him 
also twelve brood mares. Among the remarkable adven- 
turers who embarked with him was Francisco Pizarro, 
who was afterwards renowned as the conqueror of Peru.* 
Hernando Cortez had likewise intended to sail in the 
expedition, but was prevented by an inflammation in one 
of his knees. 

The voyage was speedy and prosperous, and they ar- 
rived late in the autumn in the harbour of Carthagena. 
The veteran Juan de la Cosa was well acquainted with 



* Francisco Pizarro was a native of Truxillo in Eslremadura. He 
was the illegitimate fruit of an amour between Gonsalvo Pizarro, a 
veteran captain of infantry, and a damsel in low life. His child- 
hood was passed in grovelling occupations incident to the humble 
condition of his mother, and he is said to have been a swineherd. 
When he had sufficiently increased in years and stature he enlisted 
as a soldier. His first campaigns may have been against the Moors 
in the war of Granada. He certainly served in Italy under the 
banner of the Great Captain, Gonsalvo of Cordova. His roving 
spirit then induced him to join the bands of adventurers to the New 
World. He was of ferocious courage, and, when engaged in any 
enterprise, possessed an obstinate perseverance that was neither to 
be deterred by danger, weakened by fatigue and hardship, or check- 
ed by repeated disappointment. After having conquered the great 
kingdom of Peru, he was assassinated, at an advanced age in 1541, 
defending himself bravely to the last. 

9 



66 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

this place, having sailed as pilot with Rodrigo de Bas- 
tides, at the time he discovered it in 1501. He warned 
Alonzo de Ojeda to be upon his guard, as the natives 
were a brave and warlike race of Carib origin, far differ- 
ent from the soft and gentle inhabitants of the islands. 
They wielded great swords of palm wood, defended them- 
selves with osier targets, and dipped their arrows in a 
subtle poison. The women, as well as the men, mingled 
in battle, being expert in drawing the bow and throwing 
a species of lance called the azagay. The warning was 
well timed, for the Indians of these parts had been irri- 
tated by the misconduct of previous adventurers, and flew 
to arms on the first appearance of the ships. 

Juan de la Cosa now feared for the safety of the enter- 
prise in which he had person, fortune, and official dignity 
at stake. He earnestly advised Ojeda to abandon this 
dangerous neighbourhood, and to commence a settlement 
in the gulf of Uraba, where the people were less ferocious, 
and did not use poisoned weapons. Ojeda was too proud 
of spirit to alter his plans through fear of a naked foe. 
It is thought, too, that he had no objection to a skirmish, 
being desirous of a pretext to make slaves to be sent to 
Hispaniola in discharge of the debts he had left unpaid.* 
He landed, therefore, with a considerable part of his 
force, and a number of friars, who had been sent out to 
convert the Indians. His faithful lieutenant, being una- 
ble to keep him out of danger, stood by to second him. 

Ojeda advanced towards the savages, and ordered the 
friars to read aloud a certain formula which had recently 
been digested by profound jurists and divines in Spain. 
It began in stately form, ^^l, Alonzo de Ojeda, servant 

* Las Casas. Hist. Ind. 1. ii. c. 57. MS. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 67 

of the most high and mighty sovereigns of Castile and 
Leon, conquerors of barbarous nations, their messenger 
and captain, do notify unto you, and make you know, in 
the best way I can, that God our Lord, one and eternal, 
created the heaven and the earth, and one man and one 
woman, from whom you and we, and all the people of the 
earth proceeded, and are descendants, as well as all those 
who shall come hereafter." The formula then went on to 
declare the fundamental principles of the Catholic Faith ; 
the supreme power given to St. Peter over the world and 
all the human race, and exercised by his representative 
the pope ; the donation made by a late pope of all this 
part of the world and all its inhabitants, to the Catholic 
sovereigns of Castile; and the ready obedience which 
had already been paid by many of its lands and islands 
and people to the agents and representatives of those 
sovereigns. It called upon those savages present, there- 
fore, to do the same, to acknowledge the truth of the 
Christian doctrines, the supremacy of the pope, and the 
sovereignty of the Catholic King, but, in case of refusal, 
it denounced upoji them all the horrors of war, the deso- 
lation of their dwelling, the seizure of their property, 
and the slavery of their wives and children. Such was 
the extraordinary document, which, from this time for- 
ward, was read by the Spanish discoverers to the won- 
dering savages of any newly-found country, as a prelude 
to sanctify the violence about to be inflicted on them.* 

When the friars had read this pious manifesto, Ojeda 
made signs of amity to the natives, and held up glittering 
presents; they had already suffered, however, from the 



* The reader will find the complete form of this ciii'ious mani- 
festo in the appendix. 



68 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

cruelties of the white men, and were not to be won by 
kindness. On the contrary they brandished their wea- 
pons, sounded their conchs, and prepared to make battle. 
Juan de la Cosa saw the rising choler of Ojeda, and 
knew his fiery impatience. He again intreated him to 
abandon these hostile shores, and reminded him of the 
venomous weapons of the enemy. It was all in vain: 
Ojeda confided blindly in the protection of the Virgin. 
Putting up, as usual, a short prayer to his patroness, he 
drew his weapon, braced his buckler, and charged fu- 
riously upon the savages. Juan de la Cosa followed as 
heartily as if the battle had been of his own seeking. 
The Indians were soon routed, a number killed, and sev- 
eral taken prisoners ; on their persons were found plates 
of gold, but of an inferior quality. Flushed by this tri- 
umph, Ojeda took several of the prisoners as guides, and 
pursued the flying enemy four leagues into the interior. 
He was followed, as usual, by his faithful lieutenant, the 
veteran La Cosa, continually remonstrating against his 
useless temerity, but hardily seconding him in the most 
hare-brained perils. Having penetrated far into the for- ' 
est, they came to a strong hold of the enemy, where a 
numerous force was ready to receive them, armed with 
clubs, lances, arrows and bucklers. Ojeda led his men 
to the charge with the old Castilian war cry, " Santiago !" 
The savages soon took to flight. Eight of their bravest 
warriors threw themselves into a cabin, and plied their 
bows and arrows so vigorously, that the Spaniards were 
kept at bay. Ojeda cried shame upon his followers to be 
daunted by eight naked men. Stung by this reproach, 
an old Castilian soldier rushed through a shower of ar- 
rows, and forced the door of the cabin, but received a 
shaft through the heart, and fell dead on the threshold. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA FIRST VOYAGE. G9 

Ojeda^ furious at the sight, ordered fire to be set to the 
combustible edifice ; in a moment it was in a blaze, and 
the eight warriors perished in the flames. 

Seventy Indians were made captive and sent to the 
ships, and Ojeda, regardless of the remonstrances of Ju- 
an de la Cosa, continued his rash pursuit of the fugitives 
through the forest. In the dusk of the evening they ar- 
rived at a village called Yurbaco; the inhabitants of 
which had fled to the mountains with their wives and 
children and principal efl^ects. The Spaniards, imagin- 
ing that the Indians were completely terrified and dis- 
persed, now roved in quest of booty among the deserted 
houses, which stood distant from each other, buried among 
the trees. While they were thus scattered, troops of 
savages rushed forth, with furious yells, from all parts of 
the forest. The Spaniards endeavoured to gather to- 
gether and support each other, but every little party was 
surrounded by a host of foes. They fought with desper- 
ate bravery, but for once their valour and their iron ar- 
mour were of no avail ; they were overwhelmed by num- 
bers, and sank beneath war clubs and poisoned arrows. 

Ojeda on the first alarm collected a few soldiers and 
ensconced himself within a small enclosure, surrounded 
by palisades. Here he was closely besieged and galled 
by flights of arrows. He threw himself on his knees, 
covered himself with his buckler, and, being small and 
active, managed to protect himself from the deadly 
shower, but all his companions were slain by his side, some 
of them perishing in frightful agonies. At this fearful 
moment the veteran La Cosa, having heard of the peril 
of his commander, arrived, with a few followers, to his 
assistance. Stationing himself at the gate of the pali- 



70 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

sadesj the brave Biscayan kept the savages at bay until 
most of his men were slain and he himself was severely 
wounded. Just then Ojeda sprang forth like a tiger into 
the midst of the enemy, dealing his blows on every side. 
La Cosa would have seconded him, but was crippled by 
his wounds. He took refuge with the remnant of his 
men in an Indian cabin; the straw roof of which, he 
aided them to throw off, lest the enemy should set it on 
fire. Here he defended himself until all his comrades, 
but one, were destroyed. The subtle poison of his 
wounds at length overpowered him, and he sank to the 
ground. Feeling death at hand, he called to his only 
surviving companion. ^^ Brother,'' said he, " since God 
hath protected thee from harm, sally forth and fly, and if 
ever thou shouldst see Alonzo de Ojeda, tell him of my 
fate!" 

Thus fell the hardy Juan de la Cosa, faithful and devo- 
ted to the very last ; nor can we refrain from pausing to pay 
a passing tribute to his memory. He was acknowledged 
by his contemporaries to be one of the ablest of those gal- 
lant Spanish navigators who first explored the way to the 
New World. But it is by the honest and kindly qua- 
lities of his heart that his memory is most endeared to 
us ; it is, above all, by that loyalty in friendship display- 
ed in this his last and fatal expedition. Warmed by his 
attachment for a more youthful and a hot-headed adven- 
turer, we see this wary veteran of the seas forgetting his 
usual prudence and the lessons of his experience, and 
embarking heart and hand, purse and person, in the wild 
enterprises of his favourite. We behold him watching 
over him as a parent, remonstrating with him as a coun- 
sellor, but fighting by him as a partisan ; following him. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 71 

without hesitation, into known and needless danger, to 
certain death itself, and showing no other solicitude in 
his dying moments, but to be remembered by his friend. 
The history of these Spanish discoveries abound in 
noble and generous traits of character, but few have 
charmed us more than this instance of loyalty to the last 
gasp, in the death of the staunch Juan de la Cosa. The 
Spaniard who escaped to tell the story of his end was the 
only surviver of seventy that had followed Ojeda in this 
rash and headlong inroad. 



72 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Arrival of JVicuesa — Vengeance taken on the Indians. 

While these disastrous occurrences happened on 
shore, great alarm began to be felt on board of the ships. 
Days had elapsed since the party had adventured so 
rashly into the wilderness ; yet nothing had been seen or 
heard of them, and the forest spread a mystery over their 
fate. Some of the Spaniards ventured a little distance 
into the woods, but were deterred by the distant shouts 
and yells of the savages, and the noise of their conchs 
and drums. Armed detachments then coasted the shore 
in boats, landing occasionally, climbing the rocks and 
promontories, firing signal guns, and sounding trumpets. 
It was all in vain ; they heard nothing but the echoes of 
their own noises, or perhaps the wild whoop of an Indian 
from the bosom of the forest. At length, when they 
were about to give up the search in despair, they came 
to a great thicket of mangrove trees on the margin of the 
sea. These trees grow within the water, but their roots 
rise, and are intertwined, above the surface. In this en- 
tangled and almost impervious grove, they caught a 
glimpse of a man in Spanish attire. They entered, and, 
to their astonishment, found it to be Alonzo de Ojeda. 
He was lying on the matted roots of the mangroves, his 
buckler on his shoulder, and his sword in his hand ; but 
so wasted with hunger and fatigue that he could not 
speak. They bore him to the firm land; made a fire on 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 73 

the shore to warm him, for he was chilled with the damp 
and cold of his hiding place, and when he was a little 
revived they gave him food and wine. In this. way he 
gradually recovered strength to tell his doleful story.* 

He had succeeded in cutting his way through the 
host of savages, and attaining the woody skirts of the 
mountains ; but when he found himself alone, and that all 
his brave men had been cut off, he was ready to yield up 
in despair.. Bitterly did he reproach himself for having 
disregarded the advice of the veteran La Cosa, and 
deeply did he deplore the loss of that loyal follower, who 
had fallen a victim to his devotion. He scarce. knew 
which way to bend his course, but continued on, in the 
darkness of the night and of the forest, until out of hear- 
ing of the yells of triumph uttered by the savages over 
the bodies of his men. When the day broke, he sought 
the rudest parts of the mountains, and hid himself until 
the night; then struggling forward among rocks, and 
precipices and matted forests, he made his way to the sea 
side, but was too much exhausted to reach the ships. 
Indeed it was wonderful that one, so small of frame, 
should have been able to endure such great hardships; 
but he was of admirable strength and hardihood. His 
followers considered his escape from death as little less 

* The picture here given is so much like romance, that the au- 
thor quotes his authority at length. — " Llegaron adonde havia, 
junto al agua de la mar^ unos Manglares, que son arboles, que 
siempre nacen, i crecen i permanecen dentro del agua dc la mar, 
con grandes raices, asidas, i enmarailadas unas con otras, i alii 
metido, i escondido hallaron a Alonso de Ojeda, con su espada 
en la mano, i la rodela en las espaldas, i en ella sobre trecientas 
senales de flechazos. Estabo descaido de hambre, que no podia 
hechar de si la habla; i si no fuera tan robusto, aunque chico de 
cuerpo, fuera muerto." 

Las Casas. I. ii. c. 58. MS. Hcrrara, Hist. Ind. D. 1, 1, vii. 

C. XV. 

10 



74 Si'AMSll VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

than miraculous, and he himself regarded it as another 
proof of the special protection of. the Virgin ; for, though 
he had, as usual, received no wound, yet it is said his 
buckler bore the dints of upwards of three hwndred 
arrows.* 

While the Spaniards were yet on the shore, adminis- 
tering to the recovery of their commander, they beheld 
a squadron of ships standing towards the harbour of Car- 
thagena, and soon perceived them to be the ships of 
Nicuesa. Ojeda was troubled in mind at the sight, recol- 
lecting his late intemperate defiance of that cavalier; 
and, reflecting that, should he seek him in enmity, he , 
was in no situation to maintain his challenge or defend 
himself. He ordered his men, therefore, to return on 
board the ships and leave him alone on the shore, and not 
to reveal the place of his retreat while Nicuesa should 
remain in the harbour. 

As the squadron entered the harbour, the boats sallied 
forth to meet it. The first inquiry of Nicuesa was con- 
cerning Ojeda. The followers of the latter replied, 
mournfully, that their commander had gone on a warlike 
expedition into the country, but days had elapsed without 
his return, so that they feared some misfortune had be- 
fallen him. They entreated Nicuesa, therefore, to give 
his word, as a cavalier, that should Ojeda really be in 
distress, he would not take advantage of his misfortunes to 
revenge himself for their late disputes. 

Nicuesa, who was a gentleman of noble and generous 
spirit, blushed with indignation at such a request. " Seek 
your commander instantly,'^ said he; "bring him to me 

t Las Casas. ubi. sup. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOVAGE. 75 

if he be alive; and I pledge myself not merely to forget 
the past, but to aid him as if he were a brother/'* 

When they met, Nicuesa received his late foe with 
open arras. "It is not." said he, ^Mbr Hidalgos, like 
men of vulgar souls, to remember past differences when 
they behold one another in distress. Henceforth, let all 
that has occurred between us be forgotten. Command 
me as a brother. Myself and my men are at your orders, 
to follow you wherever you please, until the deaths of 
Juan de la Cosa and his -comrades are revenged." 

The spirits of Ojeda were once more lifted up by this 
gallant and generous offer. The two governors, no 
longer rivals, landed four hundred of their men and 
several horses, and set off with all speed for the fatal vil- 
lage. They approached it in the night, and, dividing 
their forces into two parties, gave orders that not an In- 
dian should be taken alive. 

The village was buried in deep sleep, ])ut the woods 
were filled with large parrots, which, being awakened, 
made a prodigious clamour. The Indians, however, 
thinking the Spaniards all destroyed, paid no attention 
to these noises. It was not until their houses were assail- 
ed, and wrapped in flames, that they took the alarm. 
They rushed forth, some with arms, some wea})onless, 
but were received at their doors by the exasperated Spa- 
niards, and either slain on the spot, or driven back into 
the fire. Women fled wildly forth with children in their 
arms, but at sight of the Spaniards glittering in steel, and 
of the horses, which they supposed ravenous monsters, 
they ran back, shrieking with horror, into their burning 
habitations. Great was the carnage, for no cpiarter was 

* Las Casas, vhi aup. 



76 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVEUY. [1509. 

shown to age or sex. Many perished by the lire, and 
many by the sword. 

When they had fully glutted their vengeance, the 
Spaniards ranged about for booty. While thus employ- 
ed, they found the body of the unfortunate Juan de la 
Cosa. It was tied to a tree, but swoln and discoloured 
in a hideous manner by the poison of the arrows with 
which he had been slain. This dismal spectacle had such 
an effect upon the common men, that not one would re- 
main in that place during the night. Having sacked the 
village, therefore, they left it a smoking ruin, and re- 
turned in triumph to their ships. The spoil in gold and 
other articles of value must have been great, for the share 
of Nicuesa and his men amounted to the value of seven 
thousand castillanos.^" The two governors, now faithful 
confederates, parted with many expressions of friendship, 
and with mutual admiration of each others prowess, and 
Nicuesa continued his voyage for the coast of Veragua. 

* Equivalent to 37,28 1 dollars of the present day. 



1509.] ALONZO UE OJJiDA TIUKD VOYAGE. 77 



CHAPTER y. 

Ojeda founds the Colofiy of San Sebastian — Beleaguered by the 

Indians. 

Ojeda now adopted, though tardily, the advice of his 
unfortunate lieutenant, Juan de la Cosa, and, giving up all 
thoughts of colonising this disastrous part of the coast, 
steered his course for the Gulf of Uraba. He sought for 
some time the river Darien, famed among the Indians as 
abounding in gold, but not finding it, landed in various 
places, seeking a favourable site for his intended colony. 
His people were disheartened by the disasters they had 
already undergone, and the appearance of surrounding 
objects was not calculated to reassure them. The coun- 
try, though fertile and covered with rich and beautiful 
vegetation, was in their eyes a land of cannibals and 
monsters. They began to dread the strength as well as 
fierceness of the savages, who could transfix a man with 
their arrows even when covered with armour, ^i\ whose 
shafts were tipped with deadly poison. They heard the 
bowlings of tigers, panthers, and, as they thought, lions in 
the forests, and encountered large and venomous serpents 
among the rocks and thickets. As they were passing 
along the banks of a river one of their horses was seized 
by the leg by an enormous alligator, nnd dragged beneath 
the waves.'* • 

' litjiicru, llisl. liid. [). I. 1. vii. c. xvi. 



78 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

At length Ojeda fixed upon a place for his town on a 
height at the east side of the Gulf. Here, landing all 
that could be spared from the ships, he began, with all 
diligence, to erect houses, giving this embryo capital of 
his province the name of San Sebastian, in honour of that 
sainted martyr, who was slain by arrows: hoping he 
might protect the inhabitants from the empoisoned shafts 
of the savages. As a further protection he erected a 
large wooden fortress, and surrounded the place with a 
stockade. Feeling, however, the inadequacy of his hand- 
ful of men to contend with the hostile tribes around him, 
he despatched a ship to Hispaniola, with a letter to the 
Bachelor, Martin Fernandez de Enciso, his Alcalde 
Mavor, informing him of his having established his seat 
of government, and urging him to lose no time in joining 
him with all the recruits, arms and provisions he could 
command. By the same ship he transmitted to San Do- 
mingo all the captives and gold he had collected. 

His capital being placed in a posture of defence, Ojeda 
now thought of making a progress through his wild terri- 
torv , and set out, accordingly, with an armed band, to 
pay a friendly visit to a neighbouring cacique, reputed as 
possessing great treasures of gold. The natives, however, 
had by this time learnt the nature of these friendly visits 
and were prepared to resist them. Scarcely had the 
Spaniards entered into the defiles of the surrounding 
forest when they were assailed by flights of arrows from 
the close coverts of the thickets. Some were shot dead 
on the spot, others, less fortunate, expired raving with 
the torments of the poison; the survivers, filled with 
horror at the sight, and, losing all presence of mind, re- 
treated in confusion to the fortress. 

It was some time before Ojeda could again persuade 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 79 



'm 



his men to take the field, so great was their dread of the 
poisoned weapons of the Indians. At length their pro- 
visions began to fail, and they were compelled to forage 
among the villages in search, not of gold, but of food. 

In one of their expeditions they were surprised by an 
ambuscade of savages, in a gorge of the mountains, and 
attacked with such fury and effect, that they were com- 
pletely routed, and pursued with yells and bowlings to 
the very gates of St. Sebastian. Many died in excru- 
ciating agony of their wounds, and othei*s recovered with 
extreme difficulty. Those who were well, no longer 
dared to venture forth in search of food ; for the whole 
forest teemed with lurking foes. They devoured such 
herbs and roots as they could find, without regard to 
their quality. The humours of their bodies became cor- 
rupted, and various diseases, combined with the ravages 
of famine, daily thinned their numbers. The sentinel 
who feebly mounted guard at night, was often found dead 
at his post in the morning. Some stretched themselves 
on the ground and expired of mere famine and debility; 
nor was death any longer regarded as an evil, but rather 
as a welcome relief from a life of horror and despair. 



80 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Alonzo de Ojeda supposed by the Savtiges to have a charmed life — 
Their experiment to try the fact. 

In the mean time the Indians continued to harass the 
garrison, lying in wait to surprise the foraging parties, 
cutting off all stragglers, and sometimes approaching the 
walls in open defiance. On such occasions Ojeda sallied 
forth at the head of his men, and from his great agility 
was thp first to overtake the retreating foe. He slew 
more of their warriors with his single arm than all his 
followers together. Though often exposed to showers of 
arrows none had ever wounded him, and the Indians 
began to think he had a charmed life. Perhaps thev 
had heard from fugitive prisoners, the idea entertained 
hy himself and his followers of his being under super- 
natural protection. Determined to ascertain the fact, 
they placed four of their most dextrous archers in ambush 
with orders to §ingle him out. A number of them ad- 
vanced towards the fort sounding their conchs and drums, 
and uttering yells of defiance. As they expected, the 
impetuous Ojeda sallied forth immediately at the head of 
his men. The Indians fled towards the ambuscade, draw- 
ing him in furious pursuit. The archers waited until he 
was full in front and then launched their deadly shafts. 
Three struck his buckler and glanced harmlessly off, but 
the fourth pierced his thigh. Satisfied that he was 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 81 

wounded beyond the possibility of cure, the savages re- 
treated with shouts of triumph. 

Ojeda was borne back to the fortress in great anguish 
of body and despondency of spirit. For the first time 
in his life he had lost blood in battle. The charm in 
which he had hitherto confided was broken ; or rather, 
the Holy Virgin appeared to have withdrawn her protec- 
tion. He had the horrible death of his followers before 
his eyes, who had perished of their wounds in raving 
frenzy. 

One of the symptoms of the poison was to shoot a thrilling 
chill through the wounded part; from this circumstance, 
perhaps, a remedy suggested itself to the imagination of 
Ojeda, which few but himself could have had the courage 
to undergo. He caused two plates of iron to be made 
red hot, and ordered a surgeon to apply them to each 
orifice of the wound. The surgeon shuddered and re- 
fused, saying, he would not be the murderer of his gene- 
ral.* Upon this Ojeda made a solemn vow that he would 
hang him unless he obeyed. To avoid the gallows, the 
surgeon applied the glowing plates. Ojeda refused to 
be tied down, or that any one should hold him during this 
frightful operation. He endured it without shrinking or 
uttering a murmur, although it so inflamed his whole sys- 
tem, that they had to wrap him in sheets steeped in 
vinegar, to allay the burning heat which raged through- 
out his body ; and we are assured that a barrel of vine- 
gar was exhaused for the purpose. The desperate 
remedy succeeded: the cold poison, says Bishop Las 
Casas, was consumed by the vivid fire, f How far the 

* Charlevoix, utsup. p. 29S. 

t Las Casas, Hist. Ind. lib. ii. c. 59. MS. 

11 



82 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

venerable historian is correct in his postulate surgeons 
may decide ; but many incredulous persons will be apt to 
account for the cure by surmising that the arrow was not 
envenomed. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 83 



CHAPTER VII. 

Arrival of a sfratige ship al Sa?i Sebastian. 

Alonzo de Ojeda, though pronounced out of danger, 
was still disabled by his wound, and his helpless situation 
completed the despair of his companions, for while he 
was in health and vigour his buoyant and mercurial spirit, 
his active^ restless, and enterprising habits, imparted an- 
imation, if not confidence, to every one around him. The 
only hope of relief was from the sea, and that was nearly 
extinct, when one day, to the unspeakable joy of the 
Spaniards, a sail appe.ared on the horizon. It made for 
the port and dropped anchor at the foot of the height of 
San Sebastian, and there was no longer a doubt that it 
was the promised succour from San Domingo. 

The ship came indeed from the island of Hispaniola, 
but it had not been fitted out by the Bachelor Enciso. 
The commander's name was Bernardino de Talavera. 
This man was one of the loose, heedless adventurers who 
abounded in San Domingo. His carelessness and extrava- 
gance had involved him in debt, and he was threatened 
with a prison. In the height of his difficulties the ship 
arrived which Ojeda had sent to San Domingo, freighted 
with slaves and gold, an earnest of the riches to be found 
at San Sebastian. Bernardo de Talavera immediately 
conceived the project of giving his creditors the slip, and 
escaping to this new settlement. He understood that 



84 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

Ojeda was in need of recruitS;, and felt assured that from 
his own reckless conduct in money matters^ he would 
sympathize with any one harassed by debt. • He drew into 
his schemes a number of desperate debtors like himself^ 
nor was he scrupulous about filling his ranks with recruits 
whose legal embarrassments arose from more criminal 
causes. Never did a more vagabond crew engage in a 
project of colonization. 

How to provide themselves with a vessel was now the 
question. They had neither money nor credit; but then 
they had cunning and courage, and were troubled by no 
scruples of conscience ; thus qualified, a knave will often 
succeed better for a time than an honest man ; it is in the 
long run that he fails, as will be illustrated in the case of 
Talavera and his hopeful associates. While casting about 
for means to escape to San Sebastian they heard of a ves- 
sel belonging to certain Genoese, which was at Cape Tib- 
uron, at the western extremity of the island, taking in a 
cargo of bacon and casava bread for San Domingo. No- 
thing could have happened more opportunely: here 
was a ship amply stored with provisions, and ready to 
their hand ; they had nothing to do but seize it and em- 
bark. 

The gang, accordingly, seventy in number, made their 
way separately and secretly to Cape Tiburon, where, as- 
sembling at an appointed time and place, they boarded 
the vessel, overpowered the crew, weighed anchor and 
set sail. They were heedless, hap-hazard mariners, and 
knew little of the management of a vessel ; the historian 
Charlevoix thinks, therefore, that it was a special provi- 
dence that guided them to San Sebastian. Whether or 
not the good father is right in his opinion, it is certain that 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 85 

the arrival of the- ship rescued the garrison from the very 
brink of destruction.* 

Talavera and his gang, though they had come lightly 
by their prize, were not disposed to part with it as 
frankly, but demanded to be paid down in gold for the 
provisions furnished to the starving colonists. Ojeda 
agreed to their terms, and taking the supplies into his 
possession, dealt them out sparingly to his companions. 
Several of his hungry followers were dissatisfied with 
their portions, and even accused Ojeda of unfairness in 
reserving an undue share for himself. Perhaps there 
may have been some ground for this charge, arising, not 
from any selfishness in the character of Ojeda, but from 
one of those superstitious fancies with which his mind 
was tinged ; for we are told that, for many years, he had 
been haunted by a presentiment that he should eventually 
die of hunger, t 

This lurking horror of the mind may have made him 
depart from his usual free and lavish spirit in doling out 
these providential supplies, and may have induced him 
to set by an extra portion for himself, as a precaution 
against his anticipated fate ; certain it is that great cla- 
mours rose among his people, some of whom threatened 
to return in the pirate vessel to Hispaniola. He suc- 
ceeded, however, in pacifying them for the present, by 
representing the necessity of husbanding their supplies, 
and by assuring them th'at the Bachelor Enciso could not 
fail soon to arrive, when there would be provisions in 
abundance. 



* Hist. S. Domingo, lib. iv. 

t Henera. Decad. 1. 1. viii. c, ;], 



86 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Factions in tJie Colony. — A Convention made. 

Days and days elapsed but no relief arrived at San Se- 
bastian. The Spaniards kept a ceaseless watch upon the 
sea, but the promised ship failed to appear. With all 
the husbandry of Ojeda the stock of provisions was 
nearly consumed ; famine again prevailed, and several of 
the garrison perished through their various sufferings and 
their lack of sufficient nourishment. The survivers now 
became factious in their misery, and a plot was formed 
among them to seize upon one of the vessels in the harbour 
and make sail for Hispaniola. 

Ojeda discovered their intentions, and was reduced to 
great perplexity. He saw that to remain here without 
relief from abroad was certain destruction, yet he clung 
to his desperate enterprise. It was his only chance for 
fortune or command ; for should this settlement be broken 
up he might try in vain, with his exhausted means and 
broken credit, to obtain another post or to set on foot 
another expedition. Ruin in fact would overwhelm him, 
should he return without success. 

He exerted himself, therefore, to the utmost to pacify 
his men; representing the folly of abandoning a place 
where they had established a foothold, and where they 
only needed a reinforcement to enable them to control 
the surrounding country, and to make themselves masters 
of its riches. Finding they still demurred, he offered, 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 87 

now that he was sufficiently recovered from his wound, 
to go himself to San Domingo in quest of reinforcements 
and supplies. 

This offer had the desired effect. Such confidence 
had the people in the energy, ability, and influence of 
Ojeda, that they felt assured of relief should he seek it 
in person. They made a kind, of convention with him, 
therefore, in which it was agreed that they should remain 
quietly at Sebastian's for the space of fifty days. At the 
end of this time, in case no tidings had been received of 
Ojeda, they were to be at liberty to abandon the settle- 
ment and return in the brigantines to Hispaniola. In the 
mean time Francisco Pizarro was to command the colony 
as Lieutenant of Ojeda, until the arrival of his Alcalde 
Mayor, the Bacl>elor Enciso. This convention being 
made, Ojeda embarked in the ship of Bernardino de 
Talavera. That cut-purse of the ocean and his loose- 
handed crew were effectually cured of their ambition to 
colonize. Disappointed in the hope of finding abundant 
wealth at San Sebastian's, and dismayed at the perils and 
horrors of the surrounding wilderness, they preferred re- 
turning to Hispaniola, even at the risk of chains and 
dungeons. Doubtless they thought that the influence of 
Ojeda would be sufficient to obtain their pardon, espe- 
cially as their timely succour had been the salvation of 
the colony. 



88 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Disastrous Voyage of Ojeda in the Pirate Ship. 

Ojeda had scarce put to sea in the ship of these free- 
booters, when a fierce quarrel arose between him and 
Talavera. Accustomed to take the lead among his com- 
panions; still feeling himself governor, and naturally of a 
domineering spirit, Ojeda, on coming on board, had as- 
sumed the command as a matter of course. Talavera, 
who claimed dominion over the ship, by the right no 
doubt of trover and conversion, or, in other words, of 
downright piracy, resisted this usurpation. 

Ojeda, as usual, would speedily have settled the ques- 
tion by the sword, but he had the whole vagabond crew 
against him, who overpowered him with numbers and 
threw him in irons. Still his swelling spirit was unsub- 
dued. He reviled Talavera and his gang as recreants, 
traitors, pirates, and offered to fight the whole of them 
successively, provided they would give him a clear deck, 
and come on two at a time. Notwithstanding his diminu- 
tive size, they had too high an idea of his prowess, and 
had heard too much of his exploits, to accept his chal- 
lenge ; so they kept him raging in his chains while they 
pursued their voyage. 

They had not proceeded far, however, when a violent 
storm arose. Talavera an^ his crew knew little of navi- 
gation, and were totally ignorant of those seas. The 
raging of the elements, the bafiiing winds and currents, 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 89 

and the danger of unknown rocks and shoals filled them 
with confusion and alarm. They knew not whither they 
were driving before the ^storm, or where to seek for 
shelter. In this hour of peril they called to mind that 
Ojeda was a sailor as well as soldier, and that he had 
repeatedly navigated these seas. Making a truce, there- 
fore, for the common safety, they took off his irons, on 
condition that he would pilot the vessel during the 
remainder of her voyage. 

Ojeda acquitted himself with his accustomed spirit and 
intrepidity ; but the vessel had been already swept so far 
to the westward that all his skill was ineffectual in 
endeavouring to work up to Hispaniola against storms and 
adverse currents. Borne away by the gulf stream, and 
tempest-tost for many days, until the shattered vessel was 
almost in a foundering condition, he saw no alternative 
but to run it on shore on the southern coast of Cuba. 

Here then the crew of free -hooters landed from their 
prize in more desperate plight than when they first took 
possession of it. They were on a wild and unfrequented 
coast, their vessel lay a wreck upon the sands, and their 
only chance was to travel on foot to the eastern extremity 
of the island, and seek some means of crossing to His- 
paniola, where, after all their toils, they might perhaps 
only arrive to be thrown into a dungeon. Such, how- 
ever, is the yearning of civilized men after the haunts of 
cultivated society, that they set out, at every risk, upon 
their long and painful journey. 



12 



90 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER X. 



* 



Toilsome March of Ojeda and his Companions through the moras- 
ses of Cuba. _ ' • 

Notwithstanding the recent services of Ojeda, the 
crew of Talavera still regarded him with hostility^ but, if 
they had felt the value of his skill and courage at sea, 
they were no less sensible of their importance on shore, 
and he soon acquired that ascendency over them which 
belongs to a master-spirit in titne of trouble. 

Cuba was as yet uncolonized. It was a place of refuge 
to the unhappy natives of Hayti, who fled hither from the 
whips and chains of their European task-masters. The 
forests abounded with these wretched fugitives, who often 
opposed themselves to the shipwrecked party, supposing 
them to be sent by their late masters to drag them back to 
captivity. 

Ojeda easily repulsed these attacks; but found that 
these fugitives had likewise inspired the villagers witk 
hostility to all European strangers. Seeing that his com- 
panions were too feeble and disheartened to fight their 
way through the populous parts of the island, or to climb 
the rugged mountains of the interior, he avoided all 
towns and villages, and led them through the close 
forests and broad green savannahs which extended be- 
tween the mountains and the sea. 

He had only made choice of evils. The forests gra- 
dually retired from the coast. The savannahs, where 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 91 

the Spaniards at first had to contend merely with long 
rank grass and creeping vines, soon ended in salt marshes, 
where the oozy bottom yielded no firm foot-hold, and the 
mud and water reached to their knees. Still they press- 
ed forward, continually hoping in a little while to arrive 
at a firmer soil-, and flattering themselves they beheld 
fresh meadow land before them; but continually de- 
ceived. The farther they proceeded, the deeper grew 
the mire, until, after they had been eight days on this 
dismal journey, they found themselves in the centre of a 
vast morass where the water reached to their girdles. 
Though thus almost drowned, they were tormented with 
incessant thirst, for all the water around them' was as 
briny as the ocean. They suffered too the cravings of 
extreme hunger, having but a scanty supply of cassava 
bread and cheese, and a few potatoes and other roots, 
which they devoured raw. When they wished to sleep 
they had to climb among the twisted roots of mangrove 
trees, which grew in clusters in the waters. Still the 
dreary marsh widened and deepened. In many places 
they had to cross rivers and inlets; where some, who 
could not swim, were drowned, and others were smother- 
ed in the mire. 

., Their situation became wild and desperate. Their 
cassava bread was spoiled by the water, and their stock 
of roots nearly exhausted. The interminable morass 
still extended before them, while, to return, after the 
distance they had come, was hopeless. Ojeda alone kept 
up a resolute spirit, and cheered and urged them for- 
ward. He had the little Flemish painting of the Ma- 
dona, which had been given him by the Bishop Fonseca, 
carefully stored among the provisions in his knapsack. 
Whenever he stopped to repose among the roots of the 



92 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

mangrove trees, he took out tliis picture, placed it 
among the branches, and kneeling, prayed devoutly to 
the Virgin for protection. This he did repeatedly in the 
course of the day. and prevailed upon his companions to 
follow his example. Nay. more, at a moment of great 
despondency, he made a solemn vow to his patroness, that 
if she conducted him alive through this peril, he would 
erect a chapel in the first Indian village he should arrive 
at; and leave her picture there, to remain an object of 
adoration to the Gentiles.* 

This frightful morass extended for the distance of 
thirty leagues, and was so deep and difficult, so entan- 
gled by roots and creeping vines, so cut up by creeks 
and rivers, and so beset by quagmires, that they were 
thirty days in traversing it. Out of the number of seven- 
ty men that set out from the ship but thirty-five remain- 
ed. *' Certain it is,'' observes the venerable Las Casas, 
^' the sufferings of the Spaniards in the New World, in 
search of wealth, have been more cruel and severe than 
ever nation in the world endured ; but those experienced 
by Ojeda and his men have surpassed all others.'' 

They were at length so overcome by hunger and 
fatigue, that some lay down and yielded up the ghost, and 
others seating themselves among the mangrove trees, 
waited in despair for death to put an end to their mise- 
ries. Ojeda, with a few of the lightest and most vigor- 
ous, continued to struggle forward, and, to their unutter- 
able joy, at length arrived to where the land was firm and 
dry. They soon descried a foot-path, and. following it, 
arrived at an Indian village, commanded by a cacique 

* Las Casas, Hist. Ind. 1. ii. c. 60. MS. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. ' 93 

called Cueybas. No sooner did they reach the village 
than they sank to the earth exhausted. 

The Indians gathered round and gazed at them with / 
wonder ; but when they learnt their story, they exhibited 
a humanity that would have done honour to the most pro- 
fessing Christians. They bore them to their dwellings, 
set meat and drink before them, and vied with each other 
in discharging the offices of the kindest humanity. Find- 
ing that a number of their companions were still in the 
morass, the cacique sent a large party of Indians with 
provisions for their relief, with orders to bring on their 
shoulders such as were too feeble to walk. "^ The In- 
dians," says the Bishop Las Casas, ^^ did more than they 
were ordered ; for so they always do, when they are not 
exasperated by ill treatment. The Spaniards were 
brought to the village, succoured, cherished, consoled, 
and almost worshipped as if they had been angels.'' 



94 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Ojeda performs his Vow to the Virgin. 

Being recovered from his sufferings, Alonzo de Ojeda 
prepared to perform his vow concerning the picture of 
the Virgin, though sorely must it have grieved him to 
part with a relique to which he attributed his deUver- 
ance from so many perils. He built a little hermitage or 
oratory in the village, and furnished it with an altar, 
above which he placed the picture. He then summoned 
the benevolent cacique, and explained to him, as well as 
his limited knowledge of the language, or the aid of in- 
terpreters would permit, the main points of the Catholic 
faith, and especially the history of the Virgin, whom he 
represented as the mother of the Deity that reigned in the 
skies, and the great advocate for mortal man. 

The worthy cacique listened to him with mute atten- 
tion, and though he might not clearly comprehend the 
doctrine, yet he conceived a profound veneration for the 
picture. The sentiment was shared by his subjects. 
They kept the little oratory always swept clean, and de- 
corated it with cotton hangings, laboured by their own 
hands, and with various votive offerings. They com- 
posed couplets or areytos in honour of the Virgin, which 
they sang to the accompaniment of rude musical instru- 
ments, dancing to the sound under the groves which sur- 
rounded the hermitage. 

A further anecdote concerning this relique may not be 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA SECOND VOYAGE. 95 . 

unacceptable. The venerable Las Casas, who records 
these factS; informs us that he arrived at the village of 
Cuebas sometime after the departure of Ojeda. He found 
the oratory preserved with the most religious care, as a 
sacred place, and the picture of the Virgin regarded with 
fond adoration. The poor Indians crowded to attend 
mass, which he performed at the altar; they listened at- 
tentively to his paternal instructions, and at his request 
brought their children to be baptized. The good Las 
Casas having heard much of this famous relique of Ojeda, 
was desirous of obtaining possession of it, and offered to 
give the cacique in exchange, an image of the Virgin 
which he had brought with him. The chieftain made 
an evasive answer, and seemed much troubled in mind. 
The next morning he did not make his appearance. 

Las Casas went to the oratory to perform mass, but 
found the altar stripped of its precious relique. On in- 
quiring, he learnt that in the night the cacique had fled 
to the woods, bearing off with him his beloved picture 
of the Virgin. It was in vain that Las Casas sent mes- 
sengers after him, assuring him that he should not be de- 
prived of the relique, but, on the contrary, that the im- 
age should likewise be presented to him. The cacique 
refused to venture from the fastnesses of the forest, nor 
did he return to his village and replace the picture 
in the oratory until after the departure of the Span- 
iards.* 



*Las Casas, Hist. Ind. c. 61, MS.— Her re r a, Hist. Incl. d. i. 1. 
ix.', c. XV. 



96 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Arrival of Ojeda at Jamaica — His reception by Juan de Esquihel. 

When the Spaniards were completely restored to 
health and strength, they resumed their journey. The 
cacique sent a large body of his subjects to carry their 
provisions and knapsacks, and to guide them across a 
desert tract of country to the province of Macaca, where 
Christopher Columbus had been hospitably entertained on 
his voyage along this coast. They experienced equal 
kindness from its cacique and his people, for such seems 
to have been almost invariably the case with the natives 
of these islands, before they had held much intercourse 
with the Europeans. 

The province of Macaca was situated at Cape de la 
Cruz, the nearest point to the island of Jamaica. Here 
Ojeda learnt that there were Spaniards settled on that 
island, being in fact the party commanded by the very 
Juan de Esquibel, whose head he had threatened to strike 
off, when departing in swelling style from San Domingo. 
It seemed to be the fortune of Ojeda to have his brava- 
does visited on his head in times of trouble and humilia- 
tion. He found himself compelled to apply for succour 
to the very man he had so vain-gloriously menaced. 
This was no time, however, to stand on points of pride ; 
he procured a canoe and Indians from the cacique of 
Macaca, and one Pedro de Ordas undertook the perilous 



'■r 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 97 

voyage of twenty leagues in the frail bark, and arrived 
safe at Jamaica. 

No sooner did Esq.uibel receive the message of Ojeda, 
than, forgetting past menaces, he instantly despatched a 
caravel to bring to him the unfortunate discoverer and his 
companions. He received him with the utmost kindness, 
lodged him in his own house, and treated him in all 
things with the most delicate attention. He was a gen- 
tleman who had seen prosperous days, but had fallen into 
adversity and been buffeted about the world, and had 
learnt how to respect the feelings of a proud spirit in dis- 
tress. Ojeda had the warm, touchy heart to feel such 
conduct; he remained several days with Esquibel in 
frank communion, and when he sailed for San Domingo 
they parted the best of friends. 

And here we cannot but remark, the singular differ- 
ence in character and conduct of these Spanish adventu- 
rers when pealing with each other, or with the unhappy 
natives. Nothing could be more chivalrous, urbane, and 
charitable ; nothing more pregnant with noble sacrifices 
of passion and interest, with magnanimous instances of 
forgiveness of injuries and noble contests of generosity, 
than the transactions of the discoverer with each other ; 
but the moment they turned to treat with the Indians, 
even with brave and high-minded caciques, they were 
vindictive, blood- thil'sty, and implacable. The very 
Juan de Esquibel, who could requite the recent hostility 
of Ojeda with such humanity and friendship, was the 
same, who, under the goviernment of Ovando, laid deso- 
late the province of Higuey in Hispaniola, and inflicted 
atrocious cruelties upon its inhabitants. 

When Alonzo de Ojeda set sail for San Domingo, Ber- 
nardino de Talavera and his rabble adherents remained at 
13 



# 



98 SPAXISII VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

Jamaica. They feared to be brought to account for their 
piratical exploit in stealing the Genoese vessel, and that 
in consequence of their recent violence to Ojeda, they 
would find in him an accuser rather than an advocate. 
The latter, however, in the opinion of Las Casas, who 
knew him well, was not a man to make accusations. With 
all his faults he did not harbour malice. He was quick 
and fiery, it is true, and his sword was too apt to leap 
from its scabbard on the least provocation ; but after the 
first flash all was over, and, if he cooled upon an injury, 
he never sought for vengeance. 



<i^^r*. 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIltD VOYAGE. 99 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Arrival of Alonzo de Ojeda at Sa?i Domingo — Conclusion of his 

Story. 

On arriving at San Domingo the first inquiry of Alon- 
zo de Ojeda was after the Bachelor Enciso. He was told 
that he had departed long hefore, with abundant supplies 
for the colony, and that nothing had been heard of him 
since his departure. Ojeda waited for a time, in hopes 
of hearing, by some return ship, of the safe arrival of the 
Bachelor at San Sebastian. No tidings, however, ar- 
rived, and he began to fear that he had been lost in those 
storms which had beset himself on his return voyage. 

Anxious for the relief of his settlement, and fearing 
that, by delay, his whole scheme of colonization would 
be defeated, he now endeavoured to set on foot another 
armament, and to enlist a new set of adventurers. His 
efforts, however, were all ineffectual. The disasters of 
his colony were known, and his own circumstances were 
considered desperate. He was doomed to experience the 
fate that too often attends sanguine and brilliant projec- 
tors. The world is dazzled by them for a time, and hails 
them as heroes while successful ; but misfortune dissi- 
pates the charm, and they become stigmatized with the 
appellation of adventurers. When Ojeda figured in San 
Domingo as the conqueror of Coanabo, as the commander 
of a squadron, as the governor of a province, his prow- 
ess and exploits were the theme of every tongue. When 



100 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

he set sail, in vaunting style, for his seat of government, 
setting the vice-roy at defiance, and threatening the life 
of Esquihel, every one thought that fortune was at his 
beck, and he was about to accomplish wonders. A few 
months had elapsed, and he walked the streets of San 
Domingo a needy man, shipwrecked in hope and fortune. 
His former friends, dreading some new demand upon 
their purses, looked coldly on him ; his schemes, once so 
extolled, were now pronounced wild and chimerical, and 
he was subjected to all kinds of slights and humiliations 
in the very place which had been the scene of his great- 
est vain glory. 

While Ojeda was thus lingering at San Domingo, the 
Admiral, Don Diego Columbus, sent a party of soldiers 
to Jamaica to arrest Talavera and his pirate crew. They 
were brought in chains to San Domingo, thrown into 
dungeons, and tried for the robbery of the Genoese ves- 
sel. Their crime was too notorious to admit of doubt, 
and being convicted, Talavera and several of his princi- 
pal accomplices were hanged. Such was the end of 
their frightful journey by sea and land. Never had 
vagabonds travelled farther or toiled harder to arrive at 
a gallows ! 

In the course of the trial Ojeda had naturally been sum- 
moned as a witness, and his testimony must have tended 
greatly to the conviction of the culprits. This drew 
upon him the vengeance of the surviving comrades of 
Talavera, who still lurked about San Domingo. As he 
was returning home one night at a late hour he was way- 
laid and set upon by a number of these miscreants. He 
displayed his usual spirit. Setting his back against a 
wall, and drawing his sword, he defended himself admi- 
rably against the whole gang; nor was he content with 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA THIRD VOYAGE. 101 

beating them ofT, but pursued them for some distance 
through the streets ; and having thus put them to utter 
route, returned tranquil and unharmed to his lodgings. 

This is the last achievement recorded of the gallant 
but reckless Ojeda ; for here his bustling career termina- 
ted, and he sank into the obscurity that gathers round a 
ruined man. His health was broken by the various hard- 
ships he had sustained, and by the lurking effects of the 
wound received at San Sebastian, which had been but 
imperfectly cured. Poverty and neglect, and the corro- 
ding sickness of the heart, contributed, no less than the 
maladies of the body, to quench that sanguine and fiery 
temper, which had hitherto been the secret of his suc- 
cess, and to render him the mere wreck of his former 
self; for there is no ruin so hopeless and complete, as 
that of a towering spirit humiliated and broken down. 
He appears to have lingered some time at San Domingo. 
Gomara, in his history of the Indies, affirms that he turned 
monk, and entered in the convent at San Francisco, where 
he died. Such a change would not have been surprising in 
a man, who, in his wildest career, mingled the bigot with 
the soldier; nor was it unusual with military adventurers 
in those days, after passing their youth in the bustle and 
licentiousness of the camp, to end their days in the quiet 
and mortification of the cloister. Las Casas, however, who 
was at San Domingo at the time, makes no mention of the 
fact, as he certainly would have done, had it taken place. 
He confirms, however, all that has been said of the strik- 
ing reverse in his character and circumstances; and he 
adds an affecting picture of his last moments, which may 
serve as a wholesome comment on his life. He died so 
poor, that he did not leave money enougii to provide for 
his interment; and so broken in spirit, that, with his last 



102 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

breathj he entreated his body might be buried in the 
monastery of San Francisco, just at the portal, in hum- 
ble expiation of his past pride, " that every one who en- 
tered might tread upon his graved* 

Such was the fate of Alonzo de Ojeda, — and who does 
not forget his errors and his faults at the threshold of his 
humble and untimely grave ! He was one of the most fear- 
less and aspiring of that band of " Ocean chivalry," that 
followed the footsteps of Columbus. His story presents 
a lively picture of the daring enterprises, the extrava- 
gant exploits, the thousand accidents, by flood and field, 
that checquered the life of a Spanish cavalier in that 
roving and romantic age. 

'^ Never," says Charlevoix, ^' was man more suited for 
a coup-de-main, or to achieve and suffer great things un- 
der the direction of another: none had a heart more 
lofty, or ambition more aspiring ; none ever took less heed 
of fortune, or showed greater firmness of soul, or found 
more resources in his own courage ; but none was less 
calculated to be commander in chief of a great enter- 
prize. Good management and good fortune for ever failed 
him."t 

* Las Casas, ubi sup. 

t Charlevoix, Hist. S. Doming. 



1509.] DIBGO DE NICUESA. 103 



THE VOYAGE 



OF 



DIEGO DE NICUESA. 



JVicuesa sails to the Westivard — His Shipwreck and subsequent dis- 
asters. 

We have now to recount the fortunes experienced by 
the gallant and generous Diego de Nicuesa, after his 
parting from Alonzo de Ojeda at Carthagena. On re- 
suming his voyage he embarked in a caravel, that he 
might be able to coast the land and reconnoitre; he 
ordered that the two brigantines, one of which was com- 
manded by his lieutenant Lope de Olano, should keep 
near to him, while the large vessels, which drew more 
water, should stand further out to sea. The squadron 
arrived upon the coast of Veragua, in stormy weather, 
and, as Nicuesa could not find any safe harbour, and was 
apprehensive of rocks and shoals, he stood out to sea at 
the approach of night, supposing that Lope de Olano 
would follow him with the brigantines according to his 
orders. The night was boisterous, the caravel was much 
tossed and driven about, and when the morning dawned, 
not one of the squadron was in sight. 



104 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

Nicuesa feared some accident had befallen the brigan- 
tines ; he stood for the land and coasted along it in search 
of them until he came to a large river, into which he en- 
tered and came to anchor. He had not been here long 
when the stream suddenly subsided, having merely been 
swoln by the rains. Before he had time to extricate him- 
self the caravel grounded, and at length fell over on one 
side. The current rushing like a torrent strained the 
feeble bark to such a degree, that her seams yawned and 
she appeared ready to go to pieces. In this moment of 
peril a hardy seaman threw himself into the water to 
carry the end of a rope on shore as a means of saving the 
crew. He was swept away by the furious current and 
perished in sight of his companions. Undismayed by 
his fate, another brave seaman plunged into the waves 
and succeeded in reaching the shore. He then fastened 
one end of a rope firmly to a tree, and the other being 
secured on board of the caravel, Nicuesa and his crew 
passed one by one along it, and reached the shore in 
safety. 

Scarcely had they landed when the caravel went to 
pieces, and with it perished their provisions, clothing 
and all other necessaries. Nothing remained to them 
but the boat of the caravel, which was accidentally cast, 
on shore. Here then they were, in helpless plight, on 
a remote and savage coast, without food, without arms, 
and almost naked. What had become of the rest of the 
squadron they knew not. Some feared that the brigan- 
tines had been wrecked ; others called to mind that Lope 
de Olano had been one of the loose lawless men confede- 
rated with Francisco Roldan in his rebellion against Co- 
lumbus, and, judging him from the school in which he 
had served, hinted their apprehensions that he had de- 



1509.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 105 

serted with the brigantines. Nicuesa partook of their 
suspicions^ and was anxious and sad at heart. He con- 
cealed his uneasiness, however, and endeavoured to cheer 
up his companions, proposing that they should proceed 
westward on foot in search of Veragua, the seat of his in- 
tended government, observing, that if the ships had sur- 
vived the tempest, they would probably repair to that 
place. They accordingly set off along the sea shore, for 
the thickness of the forest prevented their traversing the 
interior. Four of the hardiest sailors put to sea in the 
boat and kept abreast of them, to help them across the 
bays and rivers. 

Their sufferings were extreme. Most of them were 
destitute of shoes, and many almost naked. They had to 
clamber over sharp and rugged rocks, and to struggle 
through dense forests beset with thorns and brambles. 
Often they had to wade across rank fens and morasses 
and drowned lands, or to traverse deep and rapid 
streams. 

Their food consisted of herbs and roots and shell fish 
gathered along the shore. Had they even met with In- 
dians they would have dreaded, in their unarmed state, 
to apply to them for provisions, lest they should take re- 
venge for the outrages committed along this coast by 
other Europeans. 

To render their sufferings more intolerable, they were 
in doubt whether, in the storms which preceded their 
shipwreck, they had not been driven past Veragua, in 
which case each step would take them so much the far- 
ther from their desired haven. 

Still they laboured feebly forward, encouraged by the 
words and the example of Nicuesa, who cheerfully par- 
took of the toils and hardships of the meanest of his men. 

14 



106 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

They had slept one night at the foot of impending 
rocks and were about to resume their weary march in the 
morning, when they were espied by some Indians from a 
neighbouring height. Among the followers of Nicuesa 
was a favourite page, whose tattered finery and white hat 
caught the quick eyes of the savages. One of them imme- 
diately singled him out, and taking a deadly aim, let fly 
an arrow that laid him expiring at the feet of his master. 
While the generous cavalier mourned over his slaughter- 
ed page, consternation prevailed among his companions, 
each fearing for his own life. The Indians, however, did 
not follow up this casual act of hostility, but suffered the 
Spaniards to pursue their painful journey unmolested. 

Arriving one day at the point of a great bay that ran 
far inland, they were conveyed, a few at a time, in the 
boat, to what appeared to be the opposite point. Being 
all landed, and resuming their march, they found to their 
surprise that they were on an island, separated from the 
main land by a great arm of the sea. The sailors who 
managed the boat were too weary to take them to the op- 
posite shore, they remained therefore all night upon the 
island. 

In the morning they prepared to depart, but, to their 
consternation, the boat with the four mariners had dis- 
appeared. They ran anxiously from point to point, ut- 
tering shouts and cries, in hopes the boat might be in 
some inlet; they clambered the rocks and strained their 
eyes over the sea. It was all in vain. No boat was to 
be seen: no voice responded to their call; it was too evi- 
dent the four mariners had either perished or had desert- 
ed them. 



1509.] DIEGO DE NIGUESA. 107 



CHAPTER II. 

JVicuesa and his men on a Desolate Island. 

The situation of Nicuesa and his men was dreary and 
desperate in the extreme. They were on a desolate 
island, bordering upon a swampy coast, in a remote and 
lonely sea, where commerce never spread a sail. Their 
companions in the other ships, if still alive and true to 
them, had doubtless given them up for lost ; and many 
years might elapse before the casual bark of a discoverer 
might venture along these shores. Long before that time 
their fate would be sealed, and their bones, bleaching on 
the sands, would alone tell their story. 

In this hopeless state many abandoned themselves to 
frantic grief, wandering about the island, wringing their 
hands and uttering groans and lamentations ; others called 
upon God for succour, and many sat down in silent and 
sullen despair. 

The cravings of hunger and thirst at length roused 
them to exertion. They found no food but a few shell 
fish scattered along the shore, and coarse herbs and roots, 
some of them of an unwholesome quality. The island 
had neither springs nor streams of fresh water, and they 
were fain to slake their thirst at the brackish pools of the 
marshes. 

Nicuesa endeavoured to animate his men with new 
hopes. He employed them in constructing a raft of drift 
wood and branches of trees, for the purpose of crossing 



108 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

the arm of the sea that separated them from the main 
land. It was a difficult task, for they were destitute of 
tools, and when the raft was finished they had np oars with 
which to manage it. Some of the most expert swimmers 
undertook to propel it, but they were too much enfeebled 
by their sufferings. On their first essay, the currents 
which sweep that coast bore the raft out to sea, and they 
swam back with difficulty to the island. Having no other 
chance of escape, and no other means of exercising and 
keeping up the spirits of his followers, Nicuesa repeat- 
edly ordered new rafts to be constructed, but the result 
was always the same, and the men at length either grew 
too feeble to work or renounced the attempt in despair. 

Thus day after day, and week after week elapsed, with- 
out any mitigation of suffering or any prospect of relief. 
Every day some one or other sank under his miseries, a 
victim, not so much to hunger and thirst, as to grief and 
despondency. His death was envied by his wretched 
survivors, many of whom were reduced to such debility, 
that they had to crawl on hands and knees in search of the 
herbs and shell fish which formed their scanty food. 



i^ 



1509.] DIEGO UE NICUESA. 109 



CHAPTER III. 

Arrival of a boat — Conduct of Lope de Olano. 

When the unfortunate Spaniards, without hope of sue- 
cour, began to consider death as a desirable end to their 
miseries, they were roused to new life one day by be- 
holding a sail gleaming on the horizon. Their exulta- 
tion was checked, however, by the reflection how many 
chances there were against its approaching this wild and 
desolate island. Watching it with anxious eyes they put 
up prayers to God to conduct it to their relief, and at 
length, to their great joy, they perceived that it was 
steering directly for the island. On a nearer approach 
it proved to be one of the brigantines that had been com- 
manded by Lope de Olano. It came to anchor: a boat 
put off, and among the crew were the four sailors who had 
disappeared so mysteriously from the island. 

These men accounted in a satisfactory manner for their 
desertion. They had been persuaded that the ships were 
in some harbour to the eastward, and that they were daily 
leaving them farther behind. Disheartened at the con- 
stant, and, in their opinion, fruitless toil which fell to 
their share in the struggle westward, they resolved to 
take their own counsel, without risking the opposition of 
Nicuesa. In the dead of the night, therefore, when 
their companions on the island were asleep, they had si- 
lently cast off their boat, and retraced their course along 



110 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

the coast. After several days toil they found the brigan- 
tines under the command of Lope de Olanoj in the river 
of Belen, the scene of the disasters of Columbus in his 
fourth voyage. 

The conduct of Lope de Olano was regarded with sus- 
picion by his contemporaries;, and is still subject to doubt. 
He is supposed to have deserted Nicuesa designedly, in- 
tending to usurp the command of the expedition. Men, 
however, were prone to judge harshly of him from his 
having been concerned in the treason and rebellion of 
Francisco Roldan. On the stormy night when Nicuesa 
stood out to sea to avoid the dangers of the shore, Olano 
took shelter under the lee of an island. Seeing nothing 
of the caravel of his commander in the morning, he made 
no effort to seek for it, but proceeded, with the brigantines 
to the river Chagres, where he found the ships at anchor. 
They had landed all their cargo, being almost in a sink- 
ing condition from the ravages of the worms. Olano 
persuaded the crews that Nicuesa had perished in the 
late storm, and, being his lieutenant, he assumed the com- 
mand. Whether he had been perfidious or not in his mo- 
tives, his command was but a succession of disasters. He 
sailed from Chagres for the river of Belen, where the 
ships were found so damaged that they had to be broken 
to pieces. Most of the people constructed wretched 
cabins on the shore, where, during a sudden storm, they 
w^ere almost washed away by the swelling of the river, or 
swallowed up in the shifting sands. Several of his men 
were drowned in an expedition in quest of gold, and he 
himself merely escaped by superior swimming. Their 
provisions were exhausted, they suffered from hunger and 
from various maladies, and many perished in extreme 
misery. All were clamorous to abandon the coast, and 



1509.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. Ill 

Olano set about constructing a caravel, out of the wreck 
of the ships, for the purpose, as he said, of returning to 
Hispaniola, though many suspected it was still his in- 
tention to persist in the enterprise. Such was the state 
in which the four seamen had found Olano and his party ; 
most of them living in miserable cabins and destitute of 
the necessaries of life. 

The tidings that Nicuesa was still alive put an end to 
the sway of Olano. Whether he had acted with truth 
or perfidy, he now manifested a zeal to relieve his com- 
mander, and immediately despatched a brigantine in quest 
of him, which, guided by the four seamen, arrived at the 
island in the way that has been mentioned. 



** * 



112 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER IV. 

JVicuesa rejoins his Crews. 

When the crew of the brigantine and the companions 
of Nicuesa met, they embraced each other with tears, for 
the hearts, even of the rough mariners, were subdued by 
the sorrows they had undergone ; and men are rendered 
kind to each other by a community of suffering. The 
brigantine had brought a quantity of palm nuts, and of 
such other articles of food as they had been able to pro- 
cure along the coast. These the famished Spaniards de- 
voured with such voracity that Nicuesa was obliged to 
interfere, lest they should injure themselves. Nor was 
the supply of fresh water less grateful to their parched 
and fevered palates. 

When sufficiently revived, they all abandoned the de- 
solate island, and set sail for the river Belen, exulting as 
joyfully as if their troubles were at an end, and they were 
bound to a haven of delight, instead of merely changing 
the scene of suifering and encountering a new variety of 
horrors. 

In the meantime Lope de Olano had been diligently 
preparing for the approaching interview with- his com- 
mander, by persuading his fellow-officers to intercede in 
his behalf, and to place his late conduct in the most fa- 
vourable light. He had need of their intercessions. 
Nicuesa arrived, burning with indignation. He ordered 
him to be instantly seized and punished as a traitor; at- 




mi^. 



1509.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. '^ 113 

tributing to his desertion the ruin of the enterprise and 
the sufferings and death of so many of his brave follow- 
ers. The fellow-captains of Olano spoke in his favour; 
but Nicuesa turned indignantly upon them : " You do 
well," cried he, " to supplicate mercy for him ; you, 
who, yourselves, have need of pardon! You have par- 
ticipated in his crime ; why, else, have you suffered so 
long a time to elapse without compelling him to send one 
of the vessels in search of me?'' 

The captains now vindicated themselves by assurances 
of their belief in his having foundered at sea. They re- 
iterated their supplications for mercy to Olano ; drawing 
the most affecting pictures of their past and present suf- 
ferings, and urging the impolicy of increasing the hor- 
rors of their situation by acts of severity. Nicuesa at 
length was prevailed upon to spare his victim ; resolving 
to send him, by the first opportunity, a prisoner to Spain. 
It appeared, in truth, no time to add to the daily blows of 
fate that were thinning the number of his followers. Of 
the gallant armament of seven hundred resolute and effec- 
tive men that had sailed with him from San Domingo, four 
hundred had already perished by various miseries ; and, 
of the survivers, many could scarcely be said to live. 



15 




114 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 1509.] 




CHAPTER V. 

'ufferings of J\'ici/esa and his men on the Coast of the Isthmus. 



The first care of Nicuesa, or resuming the general 
command, was to take measures for the relief of his peo- 
ple, who were perishing with famine and disease. All 
those who were in health, or who had strength sufficient 
to bear the least fatigue, were sent on foraging parties, 
among the fields and villages of the natives. It was a 
service of extreme peril ; for the Indians of this part of 
the coast were fierce and warlike, and were the same 
who had proved so formidable to Columbus and his bro 
ther, when they attempted to found a settlement in this 
neighbourliood. 

Many of the Spaniards were slain in these expeditions. 
Even if they succeeded in collecting provisions, the toil 
of bringing them to the harbour was worse to men in 
their enfeebled condition, than the task of fighting for 
them ; for they were obliged to transport them on their 
backs, and, thus heavily laden, to scramble over rugged 
rocks, through almost impervious forests and across dis- 
mal swamps. 

Harassed by these perils and fatigues, they broke forth 
into murmurs against their commander, accusing him, not 
merely of indifference to their sufferings, but of wantonly 
imposing severe and unnecessary tasks upon them out of 
revenge for their having neglected him. 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 115 

The genial temper of Nicuesa, had in fact, been soured 
by disappointment j and a series of harassing cares and 
evils had rendered him irritable and impatient; but he 
was a cavalier of a generous and honourable nature, 
and does not appear to have enforced any services that 
were not indispensable to the common safety. In fact, 
the famine had increased to such a degree, that, we are 
told, thirty Spaniards, having on one occasion found the 
dead body of an Indian in a state of decay, they were 
driven by hunger to make a meal of it, and were so in- 
fected by the horrible repast, that not one of them sur- 
vived. * 

Disheartened by these miseries, Nicuesa determined to 
abandon a place which seemed destined to be the grave 
of Spaniards. Embarking the greater part of his men in 
the two brigan tines, and the caravel which had been 
built by Olano, he set sail eastward in search of some 
more favourable situation for his settlement. A number 
of the men remained behind, to await the ripening of 
some maize and vegetables which they had sown. These 
he left under the command of Alonzo Nunez, whom he 
nominated his Alcalde Mayor. 

When Nicuesa had coasted about four leagues to the 
east, a Genoese sailor, who had been with Columbus in 
his last voyage, informed him that there was a fine har- 
bour somewhere in that neighbourhood, which had pleas- 
ed the old admiral so highly, that he had given it the 
name of Puerto Bello. He added, that they might know 
the harbour by an anchor, half buried in the sand, which 
Columbus had left there; near to which was a fountain of 
remarkably cool and sweet water, springing up at the foot 

* Hcrrcra, Hist. Ind. D. i. and viii. c. 2. 



Pi 



m 



116 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

of a large tree. Nicuesa ordered search to be made along 
the coast, and at length they found the anchor, the foun- 
tain, and the tree. It was the same harbour which bears 
the name of Portobello at the present day. A number of 
the crew were sent on shore in search of provisions, but 
were assailed by the Indians; and, being too weak to 
wield their weapons with their usual prowess, were 
driven back to the vessels with the loss of several slain 
or wounded. 

Dejected at these continual misfortunes, Nicuesa con- 
tinued his voyage seven leagues further, until he came to 
the harbour to which Columbus had given the name of 
Puerto de Bastimientos, or, Port of Provisions. It pre- 
ented an advantageous situation for a fortress, and was 

rrounded by a fruitful country. Nicuesa resolved to 
make it his abiding place. "Here,*' said he, "let us 
stop, e?i el nombi^e de DiosP^ (in the name of God.) His 
followers, with the superstitious feeling with which men 
in adversity are prone to interpret every thing into 
omens, persuaded themselves that there was favourable 
augury in his words, and called the harbour "' Nombre 
de Dios," which name it afterwards retained. 

Nicuesa now landed, and drawing his sword, took so- 
lemn possession in the name of the Catholic sovereigns. 
He immediately began to erect a fortress to protect his 
people against the attacks of the savages. As this was a 
case of exigency, he exacted the labour of every one 
capable of exertion. The Spaniards, thus equally dis- 
tressed by famine and toil, forgot their favourable omen, 
cursed the place as fated to be their grave, and called 
down imprecations on the head of their commander, who 
compelled them to labour when ready to sink with hun- 
ger and debility. Those murmured no less who were 



« 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 117 

sent in quest of food, which was only to be gained by 
fatigue and bloodshed ; for whatever they collected they 
had to transport from great distances, and they were fre- 
quently waylaid and assaulted by the Indians. 

When he could spare men for the purpose, Nicuesa 
despatched the caravel for those whom he had left at the 
river Belen. Many of them had perished, and the sur- 
vivers had been reduced to such famine at times, as to 
eat all kinds of reptiles, until a part of an alligator was a 
banquet to them. On mustering all his forces when thus 
united, Nicuesa found that but one hundred emaciated 
and dejected wretches remained. • 

He despatched the caravel to Hispaniola, to bring a 
quantity of bacon which he had ordered to have prepared 
there, but it never returned. He ordered Gonzalo de 
Badajos, at the head of twenty men, to scour the country 
for provisions ; but the Indians had ceased to cultivate : 
they could do with little food, and could subsist on the 
roots and wild fruits of the forest. The Spaniards, there- 
fore, found deserted villages and barren fields, but lurk- 
ing enemies at every defile. So deplorably were they 
reduced by their sufferings, that at length there were not 
left a sufiicient number in health and strength to mount 
guard at night; and the fortress remained without senti- 
nels. Such was the desperate situation of this once gay 
and gallant cavalier, and of his brilliant armament, which 
but a few months before had sallied from San Domingo, 
flushed with the consciousness of power, and the assur- 
ance that they had the means of compelling the favours of 
fortune. 

It is necessary to leave them for a while, and turn our 
attention to other events which will ultimately be found 
to bear upon their destinies. 



118 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Expedition of the Bachelor Enciso in search of the Seat of Govern- 
metit of Ojeda. (1510.) ' 

In calling to mind the narrative of the last expedition 
of Alonzo de Ojeda. the reader will doubtless remember 
the Bachelor Martin Fernandez de Enciso, who was in- 
spired by that adventurous cavalier with an ill-starred 
passion for colonizing., and freighted a vessel at San Do- 
mingo with reinforcements and supplies for the settlement 
at San Sebastian. 

When the Bachelor was on the eve of sailing, a num- 
ber of the loose hangers-on of the colony? and men en- 
cumbered with debt, concerted to join his ship from the 
coast and the outports. Their creditors, however, get- 
ting notice of their intention, kept a close watch upon 
every one that went on board while in the harbour, and 
obtained an armed vessel from the Admiral Don Diego 
Columbus, to escort the enterprising Bachelor clear of 
the island. One man, however, contrived to elude these 
precautions, and, as he afterwards rose to great import- 
ance, it is proper to notice him particularly. His name 
was Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He was a native of Xeres 
de los Caballeros, and of a noble though impoverished 
family. He had been brought up in the service of Don 
Pedro Puerto Carrero, Lord of Moguer, and he after- 
wards enlisted among the adventurers who accompanied 
Rodrigo de Bastides in his voyage of discovery. Peter 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 119 

Martyr, in his Latin decades, speaks of him by the ap- 
pellation of " egregius digladiator/' which has been in- 
terpreted by some as a skilful swordsman, by others, as an 
adroit fencing master. He intimates, also, that he was a 
mere soldier of fortune, of loose prodigal habits, and the 
circumstances under which he is first introduced to us 
justify this character. He had fixed himself for a time 
in Hispaniola, and undertaken to cultivate a farm at the 
town of Salvatierra, on the sea coast, but in a little time 
had completely involved himself in debt. The expedi- 
tion of Enciso presented him with an opportunity of es- 
caping from his embarrassments, and of indulging his ad- 
venturous habits. To elude the vigilance of his credi- 
tors and of the armed escort, he concealed himself in a 
cask, which was conveyed from his farm on the sea coast 
on board of the vessel, as if containing provisions for the 
voyage. When the vessel was fairly out at sea, and 
abandoned by the escort, Vasco Nunez emerged like an 
apparition from his cask, to the great surprise of Enciso, 
who had been totally ignorant of the stratagem. The 
Bachelor was indignant at being thus outwitted, even 
though he gained a recruit by the deception ; and, in the 
first ebullition of his wrath, gave the fugitive debtor a 
very rough reception, threatening to put him on shore on 
the first uninhabited island they should encounter. Vasco 
Nuiiez, however, succeeded in pacifying him, ^^rGod,'' 
says the venerable Las Casas "^^ reserved him for greater 
things.'' It is probable the Bachelor beheld in him a 
man well fitted for his expedition, for Vasco Nunez was 
in the prime and vigour of his days, tall and muscular, 
seasoned to hardships, and of intrepid spirit. 

Arriving at the main land, they touched at the fatal 



120 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

harbour of Carthagena, the scene of the sanguinary con- 
flicts of Ojeda and Nicuesa with the natives, and of the 
death of the brave Juan de la Cosa. Enciso was igno- 
rant of those events, having had no tidings from those 
adventurers since their departure from San Domingo; 
without any hesitation, therefore, he landed a number of 
his men to repair his boat, which was damaged, and to 
procure water. While the men were working upon the 
boat, a multitude of Indians gathered at a distance, well 
armed, and with menacing aspect, sounding their shells and 
brandishing their weapons. The experience they had had 
of the tremendous powers of the strangers j however, ren- 
dered them cautious of attacking, and for three days they 
hovered in this manner about the Spaniards, the latter be- 
ing obliged to keep continually on the alert. At length two 
of the Spaniards ventured one day from the main body to 
fill a water cask from the adjacent river. Scarcely had 
they reached the margin of the stream, when eleven sava- 
ges sprang from the thickets and surrounded them, bending 
their bows and pointing their arrows. In this way they 
stood for a moment or two in fearful suspense, the Indians 
refraining from discharging their shafts, but keeping them 
constantly pointed at their breasts. One of the Span- 
iards attempted to escape to his comrades who were re- 
pairing the boat, but the other called him back, and, 
understanding something of the Indian tongue, addressed 
a few amicable words to the savages. The latter, aston- 
ished at being spoken to in their own language, now re- 
laxed a little from their fierceness, and demanded of the 
strangers who they were, who were their leaders, and 
what they sought upon their shores. The Spaniard re- 
plied that they mere harmless people, who came from 






1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 121 

Other lands and merely touched there through necessity, 
and he wondered that they should meet them with such 
hostility; he at the same time warned them to beware, as 
there would come many of his countrymen well armed, 
and would wreak terrible vengeance upon them for any 
mischief they might do. While they were thus parley- 
ing, the Bachelor Enciso, hearing that two of his men 
were surrounded by the savages, sallied instantly from 
his ship, and hastened with an armed force to their 
rescue. As he approached, however, the Spaniard 
who had held the parley, made him a signal that the 
natives were pacific. In fact the latter had supposed 
that this was a new invason of Ojeda and Nicuesa, and 
had thus arrayed themselves, if not to take vengeance for 
past outrages, at least to defend their houses from a second 
desolation. When they were convinced, however, that 
these were a totally different band of strangers and with- 
out hostile intentions, their animosity was at an end, they 
threw by their weapons, and came forward with the most 
confiding frankness. During the whole time that the 
Spaniards remained there, they treated them with the 
greatest friendship, supplying them witli bread made 
from maize, with salted fish, and with the fermented 
and spiritous beverages common along that coast. Such 
was the magnanimous conduct of men who were consid- 
ered among the most ferocious and warlike of these sav- 
age nations; and who, but recently, had beheld their 
shores invaded, their villages ravaged and burnt, and 
their friends and relations butchered, without regard to 
age or sex by the countrymen of these very strangers. 
When we recall the bloody and indiscriminate vengeance 
wreaked upon this people by Ojeda and his followers for 

16 



Ji. 



122 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

their justifiable resistance of invasion, and compare it with 
their placable and considerate spirit when an opportunity 
for revenge presented itself, we confess we feel a mo- 
mentary doubt whether the arbitrary appellation of sav- 
age is always applied to the right party. 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 123 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Bachelor hears unwelcome tidings of his destined Jitris- 

dictio?]. 

Not long after the arrival of Enciso at this eventful 
harbour he was surprised by the circumstance of a brig- 
antine entering and coming to anchor. To encounter an 
European sail in these almost unkncvn seas, was always 
a singular and striking occurrence, but the astonishment 
of the Bachelor was mingled with alarm when, on board- 
ing the brigantine, he found that it was manned by a 
number of the men who had embarked with Ojeda. His 
first idea was, that they had mutinied against their com- 
mander, and deserted with the vessel. The feelings of 
the magistrate were aroused within him by.the suspicion, 
and he determined to take his first step as Alcalde Mayor, 
by seizing them and inflicting on them the severity of the 
law. He altered his tone, however, on conversing with 
their resolute commander. This was no other than Fran- 
cisco Pizarro, whom Ojeda had left as his locum tenens 
at San Sebastian, and who showed the Bachelor his let- 
ter patent, signed by that unfortunate governor. In 
fact, the little brigantine contained the sad remnant of the 
once vaunted colony. After the departure of Ojeda in 
the pirate ship, his followers, whom he had left behind 
under the command of Pizarro, continued in the fortress 



.# 



124 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

until the stipulated term of fifty days had expired. Re- 
ceiving no succour, and hearing no tidings of Ojeda, they 
then determined to embark and sail for Hispaniola ; but 
here an iinthought-of difficulty presented itself, they 
were seventy in number, and the two brigantines which 
had been left with them were incapable of taking so 
many. They came to the forlorn agreement, therefore, 
to remain nntil famine, sickness, and the poisoned arrows 
of the Indians should reduce their number to the capa- 
city of the brigantines. A brief space of time was suffi- 
cient for the purpose. They then prepared for the voy- 
age. Four mares, which had keen kept alive as terrors 
to the Indians, were killed and salted for sea-stores. 
Then taking whatever other articles of provision re- 
mained, they embarked and made sail. One brigan- 
tine was commanded by Pizarro, the other by one Valen- 
zuela. 

They had not proceeded far when, in a storm, a sea 
struck the crazy vessel of Valenzuela with such vio- 
lence as to cause it to founder with all its crew. The 
other brigantine was so near that the mariners wit- 
nessed the struggles of their drowning companions and 
heard their cries. Some of the sailors, with the com- 
mon disposition to the marvellous, declared that they 
had beheld a great whale, or some other monster of 
the deep, strike the vessel with its tail, and either 
stave in its sides or shatter the rudder, so as to cause the 
shipwreck. *^ The surviving brigantine then made the 
best of its way to the harbour of Carthagena, to seek 
provisions. 

* Herrera, Hist. Itid. d. 1. 1. vii. c. 10. 



m 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 125 

Such was the disastrous account rendered to the 
Bachelor by Pizarro, of his destined jurisdiction. En- 
ciso^ however, was of a confident mind and sanguine tern - 
peramentj and trusted to restore all things to order and 
prosperity on his arrival. 



"t. 



126 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Crusade of the Bachelor Enciso against the Sepulchres of Zenti. 

The Bachelor Enciso, as has been shown, was a man of 
the sword as well as of the robe ; having doubtless im- 
bibed a passion for military exploit from his intimacy 
with the discoverers. Accordingly, w'hile at Carthagena, 
he was visited by an impulse of the kind, and undertook 
an enterprise that would have been worthy of his friend 
Ojeda. He had been told by the Indians that about twenty- 
five leagues to the west lay a province called Zenu, 
the mountains of which abounded with the finest gold. 
This was washed down by torrents during the rainy 
season, in such quantities that the natives stretched nets 
across the rivers to catch the largest particles ; some of 
which were said to be as large as eggs. 

The idea of taking gold in nets captivated the imagi- 
nation of the Bachelor, and his cupidity was still more 
excited by further accounts of this wealthy province. 
He was told that Zenu was the general place of sepul- 
ture of the Indian tribes throughout the country, whither 
they brought their dead, and buried them, according to 
their custom, decorated with their most precious orna- 
ments. 

It appeared to him a matter of course, therefore, that 
there must be an immense accumulation of riches in the 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 127 

Indian tombs, from the golden ornaments that had been 
buried with the dead through a long series of generations. 
Fired with the thought, he determined to make a foray 
into this province, and to sack the sepulchres ! Neither 
did he feel any compunction at the idea of plundering 
the dead, considering the deceased as pagans and infidels, 
who had forfeited even the sanctuary of the grave, by 
having been buried according to the rites and ceremonies 
of their idolatrous religion. 

Enciso, accordingly, made sail from Carthagena and 
landed with his forces on the coast of Zenu. Here he 
was promptly opposed by two caciques, at the head of a 
large band of warriors. The Bachelor, though he had 
thus put on the. soldier, retained sufficient of the spirit of 
his former calling not to enter into quarrel without taking 
care to have the law on his side ; he proceeded regularly^ 
therefore, according to the legal form recently enjoined 
by the crown. He caused to be read and interpreted to 
the caciques, the same formula used by Ojeda, expound- 
ing the nature of the Deity, the supremacy of the pope, 
and the right of the Catholic sovereigns to all these lands, 
by virtue of a grant from his holiness. . The caciques lis- 
tened to the whole very attentively and without interrup- 
tion, according to the laws of Indian. courtesy. They then 
replied that, as to the assertion that there was but one God, 
the sovereign of heaven and earth, it seemed to them good, 
and that such must be the case ; but as to the doctrine 
that the pope was regent of the world in place of God, 
and that he had made a grant of their country to the 
Spanish king, they observed that the pope must have 
been drunk to give away what was not his, and the king 
must have been somewhat mad to ask at his hands what 



128 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVER\^ [1510. 

belonged to others. They added;, that they were lords 
of those lands and needed no other sovereign, and if this 
king should come to take possession, they would cut off 
his head' and put it on a pole ; that being their mode of 
dealing with their enemies. — As an illustration of this 
custom they pointed out to Enciso the very uncomforta- 
ble spectacle of a row of grisly heads impaled in the 
neighbourhood. 

Nothing daunted either by the reply or the illustra- 
tion, the Bachelor menaced them with war and slavery 
as the consequences of their refusal to believe and sub- 
mit. They replied by threatening to put his head upon 
a pole as a representative of his sovereign. The Bache- 
lor having furnished them with the law now proceeded to 
the commentary. He attacked the Indians, routed 
them, and took one of the caciques prisoner, but in 
the skirmish two of his men were slightly wounded 
with poisoned arrows, and died raving with torment.* 

It does not appear, however, that his crusade against 
the sepulchres was attended with any lucrative advan- 
tage. Perhaps the experience he had received of the 
hostility of the natives, and of the fatal effects of their 
poisoned arrows, prevented his penetrating into the land, 

* The above anecdote is related by the Bachelor Enciso him- 
self, in a geographical work entitled Suma de Geographia, which 
he published in Seville, in 1519. As the reply of the poor sava- 
ges contains something of natural logic we give a part of it as re- 
ported by the Bachelor. " Respondieron me : que en lo que dezia 
que no avia sino un dios y que este governaba el cielo y la tierra y 
que era seiior de todo que les parecia y que asi debia ser : pero que 
enlo que dezia que el papa era sefior de todo el universo en lugar 
de dios y que el avia fecho merced de aquella tierra al rey de Cas- 
tilla; dixcron que el papa debiera cstar boracho quando lo hizo, 
pues daba lo que no era suyo, y que el rey que pedia y tomava tal 
merced debia ser algun loco ptics pedia lo que era de oiros," 8cc. 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 129 

with his scanty force. Certain it is, the reputed wealth 
of Zenu, and the tale of its fishery for gold with nets, re- 
mained unascertained and uncontradicted, and were the 
cause of subsequent and disastrous enterprises. The 
Bachelor contented himself with his victory, and return- 
ing to his ships,, prepared to continue his voyage for the 
seat of government established by Ojeda in the Gulf of 
Uraba. 



17 



130 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 



CHAPTER IX. 

7%e Bachelor arrives at San Sahastian — His disasters there, and 
stihscqucnt Exploits at Darien. 

It was not without extreme difficulty, and the peremp- 
tory exercise of his authority as Alcalde Mayor, that 
Enciso prevailed upon the crew of Pizarro to return with 
him to the fated shores of San Sebastian. He at length 
arrived in sigM of the long wished -for seat of his antici- 
pated power and authority ; but here he was doomed like 
his principal, Ojed.!, to meet with nothing but misfor- 
tune. On entering the harbour his vessel struck on a 
rock on the eastern point. The rapid currents and 
tumultuous waves rent it to pieces; the crew escaped 
with great difficulty to the brigantine of Pizarro; a little 
flour, cheese and biscuit, and a small part of the arms 
were saved, but the horses, mares, swine and all othej* 
colonial supplies were swept away, and the unfortunate 
Bachelor beheld the proceeds of several years of pros- 
perous litigation swallowed up in an instant. 

His dream of place and dignity seemed equally on the 
point of vanishing, for, on landing, he found the fortress 
and its adjacent houses mere heaps of ruins, having been 
destroyed with fire by the Indians. 

For a few days the Spaniards maintained themselves 
with palm nuts, and with the flesh of a kind of wild swine, 
of which they met with several herds. These supplies 
failing, the Bachelor sallied forth with a hundred men to 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 131 

forage the country. They were waylaid by three In- 
dians, who discharged all the arrows in their quivers with 
incredible rapidity, wounded several Spaniards, and then 
fled with a swiftness that defied pursuit. The Spaniards 
returned to the harbour in dismay. All their dread of 
the lurking savages and their poisoned weapons revived, 
and they insisted upon abandoning a place marked out 
for disaster. 

The Bachelor Enciso was himself disheartened at 
the situation of this boasted capital of San Sebastian ; — 
but whither could he go where the g^me misfortunes 
might not attend him? In this moment of doubt and de- 
spondency, Vasco Nunez, the same absconding debtor 
who had been smuggled on board in the cask, stepped 
forward to give counsel. He informed the Bachelor that 
several years previously he had sailed along that coast 
with Rodrigo de Bastides. They had explored the whole 
gulf of Uraba ; and he well remembered an Indian village 
situated on the western side, on the banks of a river 
which the natives called Darien. The country around 
was fertile and abundant, and was said to possess mines 
of gold ; and the natives, though a warlike race, never 
made use of poisoned weapons. He offered to guide the 
Bachelor to this place, where they might get a supply of 
provisions, and even found their colony. 

The Spaniards hailed the words of Vasco Nunez as if 
revealing a land of promise. The Bachelor adopted his 
advice, and, guided by him, set sail for the village, de- 
termined to eject the inhabitants and take possession of 
it as the. seat of government. Arrived at the river, he 
landed, put his men in martial array, and marched along 
the banks. The place was governed l>y a brave cacique 
named Zemaco. When he heard of the approach of the 



132 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

Spaniards, he seut off the women and children to a place 
of safety, and posting himself with five hundred of his 
warriors on a height, prepared to give the intruders a 
warm reception. The Bachelor was a discoverer at all 
points, pious, daring, and rapacious. On beholding this 
martial array he recommended himself and his followers 
to God, making a vow in their name to ^^ Our Lady of 
Antigua,*' whose image is adored with great devotion in 
Seville, that the first church and town which they built 
should be dedicated to her, and that they would make a 
pilgrimage to Seville to offer the spoils of the heathen at 
her shrine. Having thus endeavoured to propitiate the 
favour of heaven, and to retain the Holy Virgin in his. 
cause, he next proceeded to secure the fidelity of his fol- 
lowers. Doubting that they might have some lurking 
dread of poisoned arrows, he exacted from them all an 
oath that they would not turn their backs upon the foe, 
whatever might happen. Never did warrior enter into 
battle with more preliminary forms and covenants than 
the Bachelor Enciso. All these points being arranged, 
he assumed the soldier, and attacked the enemy with such 
valour, that though they made at first a show of fierce re- 
sistance, they were soon put to flight, and many of them 
slain. The Bachelor entered the village in triumph, took 
possession of it by unquestionable right of conquest, and 
plundered all the hamlets and houses of the surrounding 
country ; collecting great quantities of food and cotton, 
with bracelets, anklets, plates and other ornaments of 
gold, to the value often thousand castellanos.* His heart 
was wonderfully elated by his victory and his booty ; his 
followers, also, after so many hardships and disasters, gave 

* Equivalent to a present sum of 53,259 dollars. 



1310.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 133 

themselves up to joy at this turn of good fortune, and it 
was unanimously agreed that the seat of government 
should be established in this village ; to which, in fulfil- 
ment of his vow, Enciso gave the name of Santa Maria 
de la Antigua del Darien. 



134 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1310. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Bachelor Enciso, undertakes the command — His Downfall. 

The Bachelor Enciso now entered upon tlie exercise 
of his civil functions as Alcalde Mayor, and Lieutenant 
of the absent governor, Ojeda. His first edict was stern 
and peremptory ; he forbade all trafficking with the na- 
tives for gold, on private account, under pain of death. 
This was in conformity to royal command; but it was 
little palatable to men who had engaged in the enterprise 
in the hopes of enjoying free trade, lawless liberty, and 
golden gains. They murmured among themselves, and 
insinuated that Enciso intended to reserve all the profit 
to himself. 

Vasco Nunez was the first to take advantage of the 
general discontent. He had risen to consequence among 
his fellow -adventurers, from having guided them to this 
place, and from his own intrinsic qualities, being hardy, 
bold, and intelligent, and possessing the random spirit 
and open-handed generosity common to a soldier of for- 
tune, and calculated to dazzle and delight the multitude. 

He bore no good will to the Bachelor, recollecting his 
thi'eat of landing him on an uninhabited island, when he 
escaped in a cask from San Domingo. He sought, there- 
fore, to make a party against him, and to unseat him from 
his command. He attacked him in his own way, with 
legal weapons^ questioning the legitimacy of his preten- 
sions. The boundary line, he observed, which separated 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 135 

the jurisdictions of Ojeda and Nicuesa, ran through the 
centre of the gulf of Uraba. The village of Darien hy on 
the western side, which had been allotted to Nicuesa. 
Enciso, therefore, as Alcalde Mayor and Lieutenant of 
Ojeda, could have no jurisdiction here, and his assumed 
authority was a sheer usurpation. 

The Spaniards, already incensed at the fiscal regula- 
tions of Enciso, were easily convinced ; so with one ac- 
cord they refused allegiance to him ; and the unfortunate 
Bachelor found the chair of authority to which he had so 
fondly and anxiously aspired, suddenly wrested from 
under him, before he had well time to take his seat. 



^ 



136 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [J510. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Perplexities at the Colony — Arrival of Colmenares. 

To depose the Bachelor had been an easy matter, for 
most men are ready to assist in pulling down; but to 
choose a successor was a task of far more difficulty. The 
people at first agreed to elect mere civil magistrates, and 
accordingly appointed Vasco Nunez and one Zemudio as 
alcaldes, together with a cavalier of some merit of the 
name of Valdivia, as regidor. They soon, however, be- 
came dissatisfied with this arrangement, and it was gene- 
rally considered advisable to vest the authority in one 
person. Who this person should be, was now the ques- 
tion. Some proposed Nicuesa, as they were within his 
province ; others were strenuous for Vasco Nunez. A 
violent dispute ensued, which was carried on with such 
heat and obstinacy, that many, anxious for a quiet life, 
declared it would be better to reinstate Enciso until the 
pleasure of the king should be known. 

In the height of these factious altercations the Span- 
iards were aroused one day by the thundering of cannon 
from the opposite side of the gulf, and beheld columns of 
smoke rising from the hills. Astonished at these si.enals 
of civilized man on these wild shores, they replied in the 
same manner, and in a short time two ships were seen 
standing across the gulf. They proved to be an arma- 
ment commanded by one Rodrigo de Colmenares, and 
were in search of Nicuesa with supplies. They had met 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 137 

with the usual luck of adventurers on this disastrous coast, 
storms at sea and savage foes on shore, and many of their 
number had fallen by poisoned arrows. Colmenares had 
touched at San Sebastian to learn tidings of Nicuesa; 
but, finding the fortress in ruins, had made signals, in 
hopes of being heard by the Spaniards, should they be 
yet lingering in the neighbourhood. 

The arrival of Colmenares caused a temporary suspen- 
sion of the feuds of the colonists. He distributed pro- 
visions among them and gained their hearts. Then, 
representing the legitimate right of Nicuesa to the com- 
mand of all that part of the coast as a governor appointed 
by the king, he persuaded the greater part of the people 
to acknowledge his authority. It was generally agreed, 
therefore, that he should cruise along the coast in search 
of Nicuesa, and that Diego de Albitez, and an active 
member of the law, called the Bachelor Corral, should 
accompany him as ambassadors, to invite that cavalier to 
come and assume the government of Darien. 



18 



138 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1310. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Colmenares goes in quest of JVicuesa. 

RoDERiGO de Colmenares proceeded along the coast to 
the westward, looking into every bay and harbour, but 
for a long time without success. At length one day he 
discovered a brigantine at a small island in the sea. On 
making up to it, he found that it was part of the arma- 
ment of Nicuesa, and had been sent out by him to forage 
for provisions. By this vessel he was piloted to the port 
of Nombre de Dios, the nominal capital of the unfortunate 
governor, but which was so surrounded and over-shadow- 
ed by forests, that he might have passed by without 
noticing it. 

The arrival of Colmenares was welcomed with trans- 
ports and tears of joy. It was scarcely possible for him 
to recognise the once buoyant and brilliant Nicuesa in the 
squalid and dejected man before him. He was living in 
the most abject misery. Of all his once gallant and pow- 
erful band of followers, but sixty men remained, and those 
so feeble, yellow, emaciated, and woe-begone, that it was 
piteous to behold them.* 

* The harbour of Nombre de Dios continued for a long time to 
present traces of the sufferings of the Spaniards. We are told by 
Herrera, that several years after the time here mentioned, a band 
of eighty Spanish soldiers, commanded by Gonzalo dc Badajos, 
arrived at the harbour with an intention of penetrating into the in- 
terior. They found there the ruined fort of Nicuesa, together with 
sculls and bones, and crosses erected on heaps of stones, dismal 
mementos of his followers who had perished of hunger; the sight 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 139 

Colmenares distributed food among them, and told them 
that he had come to convey them to a plenteous country, 
and one rich in gold. When Nicuesa heard of the set- 
tlement at Darien, and that the inhabitants had sent for 
him to come and govern them, he was as a man suddenly 
revived from death. All the spirit and munificence of 
the caviller again awakened in him. He gave a kind of 
banquet that very day to Colmenares and the ambassadors, 
from the provisions brought in the ship. He presided at 
his table with his former hilarity, and displayed a feat of 
his ancient office as royal carver, by holding up a fowl in 
the air and dissecting it with wonderful adroitness. 

Well would it have been for Nicuesa had the sudden 
buoyancy of his feelings carried him no further, but ad- 
versity had not taught him prudence. In conversing 
with the envoys about the colony of Darien, he already 
assumed the tone of governor, and began to disclose the 
kind of policy with which he intended to rule. When 
he heard that great quantities of gold had been collected 
and retained by private individuals, his ire was kindled. 
He vowed to make them refund it, and even talked of 
punishing them for trespassing upon the privileges and 
monopolies of the crown. This was the very error that 
had unseated the Bachelor Enciso from his government, 
and it was a strong measure for one to threaten who as yet 
was governor but in expectation. The menace was not 
lost upon the watchful ambassadors Diego de Albitez and 
the Bachelor Corral. They were put still more on the 
alert by a conversation which they held that very even- 

of which struck such horror and dismay into the hearts of the sol- 
diers that they would have abandoned their enterprise, had not 
their intrepid captain immediately sent away the ships, and thus 
deprived them of the means of retreating, Herrera, d. 1 1. 1. i. 



140 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 

ing with Lope de Olano, who was still detained a prison- 
er for his desertion, but who found means to commune 
with the envoys, and to prejudice them against his un- 
suspecting commander. " Take warning," said he, ^^ by 
my treatment. I sent relief to Nicuesa and rescued him 
from death when starving on a desert island. Behold my 
recompense. He repays me with imprisonment and 
chains. Such is the gratitude the people of Darien may 
look for at his hands!'' 

The subtle Bachelor Corral and his fellow envoy laid 
these matters to heart, and took their measures accord- 
ingly. They hurried their departure before Nicuesa, 
and setting all sail on their caravel, hastened back to 
Darien. The moment they arrived they summoned a 
meeting of the principal inhabitants. *' A blessed change 
we have made," said they, " in summoning this Diego de 
Nicuesa to the command ! We have called in the stork 
to take the rule, who will not rest satisfied until he has 
devoured us." They then related, with the usual exag- 
geration, the unguarded threats that had fallen from 
Nicuesa, and instanced his treatment of Olano as a proof 
of a tyrannous and ungrateful disposition. 

The words of the subtle Bachelor Corral and his asso- 
ciate produced a violent agitation among the people, es- 
pecially among those who had amassed treasures which 
would have to be refunded. Nicuesa, too, by a transaction 
which almost destroys sympathy in his favour, gave time 
for their passions to ferment. On his way to Darien he 
stopped for several days among a group of small islands, 
for the purpose of capturing Indians to be sold as slaves. 
While committing these outrages against humanity, he 
sent forward Juan de Cayzedo in a boat to announce his 
coming. His messenger had a private pique against him, 



1510.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 141 

and played him false. He assured the people of Darieii 
that all they had been told by their envoys concerning the 
tyranny and ingratitude of Nicuesa was true. That he 
treated his followers with wanton severity ; that he took 
from them all they won in battle, saying, that the spoils 
were his rightful property ; and that it was his intention 
to treat the people of Darien in the same manner. 
'' What folly is it in you," added he, " being your own 
masters, and in such free condition, to send for a tyrant 
to rule over you!" 

The people of Darien were convinced by this concur- 
ring testimony, and confounded by the overwhelming 
evil they had thus invoked upon their heads. They had 
deposed Enciso for his severity, and they had thrown 
themselves into the power of one who threatened to be 
ten times more severe! Vasco Nunez de Balboa observed 
their perplexity and consternation. He drew them one 
by one apart, and conversed with them in private. ^* You 
are cast down in heart," said he, ^^ and so you might well 
be, were the evil beyond all cure. But do not despair; 
there is an effectual relief, and you hold it in your hands. 
If you have committed an error in inviting Nicuesa to 
Darien, it is easily remedied by not receiving him when 
he comes!" The obviousness and simplicity of the re- 
medy struck every mind, and it was unanimously adopted. 



142 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVEIIY. [1510. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

Catastrophe of the unfortunate JVictcesa. 

While this hostile plot was maturing at Darien, the 
unsuspecting Nicuesa pursued his voyage leisurely and 
serenely, and arrived in safety at the mouth of the river. 
On approaching the shore he beheld a multitude, headed 
by Vasco Nuilez, waiting, as he supposed, to receive 
him with all due honour. He was about to land when the 
public procurator, or attorney, called to him with a loud 
voice, warning him not to disembark, but advising him 
to return with all speed to his government at Nombre de 
Dios. 

Nicuesa remained for a moment as if thunderstruck by 
so unlooked-for a salutation. When he recovered his 
self-possession he reminded them that he had come at 
their own request ; he entreated,- therefore, that he might 
be allowed to land and have an explanation, after which 
he would be ready to act as they thought proper. His 
entreaties were vain; they only provoked insolent re- 
plies, and threats of violence should he venture to put foot 
on shore. Night coming on, therefore, he was obliged 
to stand out to sea, but returned the next morning, hop- 
ing to find this capricious people in a different mood. 

There did, indeed appear to be a favourable change, 
for he was now invited to land. It was a mere stratagem 
to get him in their power, for no soonor did he set foot 
on shore than the multitude rushed forward to seize him. 



1511.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 143 

Among his many bodily endowments, Nicuesa was noted 
for swiftness of foot. He now trusted to it for safety, and, 
throwing off the dignity of governor, fled for his life 
along the shore, pursued by the rabble. He soon dis- 
tanced his pursuers and took refuge in the woods. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who was himself a man of 
birth, seeing this high-bred cavalier reduced to such ex- 
tremity, and at the mercy of a violent rabble, repented of 
what he had done. He had not anticipated such popular 
fury, and endeavoured, though too late, to allay the tem- 
pest he had raised. He succeeded in preventing the 
people from pursuing Nicuesa into the forest, and then 
endeavoured to mollify the vindictive rage of his fellow 
Alcalde, Zamudio, whose hostility was quickened by the 
dread of losing his office, should the new governor be 
received ; and who was supported in his boisterous con- 
duct by the natural love of the multitude for what are 
called " strong measures." Nicuesa now held a parley 
with the populace, through the mediation of Vasco 
Nunez. He begged that, if they would not acknowledge 
him as governor, they would at least admit him as a 
companion. This they refused, saying, that if they ad- 
mitted him in one capacity, he would end by attaining to 
the other. He then implored, that if he could be admit- 
ted on no other terms, they would treat him as a prisoner, 
and put him in irons, for he would rather die among them 
than return to Nombre de Dios, to perish of famine, or by 
the arrows of the Indians. 

It was in vain that Vasco Nuilez exerted his eloquence 
to obtain some grace for this unhappy cavalier. His 
voice was drowned by the vociferations of the multitude. 
Among these was a noisy swaggering fellow named Fran- 
cisco Benitez, a great talker and jester, who took a vul- 



144 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

gar triumph in the distresses of a cavalier, and answered 
every plea in his behalf with scoffs and jeers. He was an 
adherent of the Alcalde Zamudio, and under his patron- 
age felt emboldened to bluster. His voice was even up- 
permost in the general clamour, until, to the expostula- 
tions of Vasco Nuiiez, he replied by merely bawling with 
great vociferation, '^ No, no, no ! — we will receive no 
such a fellow among us as Nicuesa!" The patience of 
Vasco Nunez was exhausted; he availed himself of his 
authority as Alcalde, and suddenly, before his fellow ma- 
gistrate could interfere, ordered the brawling ruffian to 
be rewarded with a hundred lashes, which were taled 
out roundly to him upon the shoulders.* 

Seeing that the fury of the populace was not to be pa- 
cified, he sent word to Nicuesa to retire to his brigantine, 
and not to venture on shore until advised by him to do 
so. The counsel was fruitless. Nicuesa, above deceit 
himself, suspected it not in others. He retired to his 
brigantine, it is true, but suffered himself to be enveigled 
on shore by a deputation professing to come on the part 
of the public, with offers to reinstate him as governor. 
He had scarcely landed when he was set upon by an 
armed band, headed by the base minded Zamudio, who 
seized him and compelled him, by menaces of death, to 
swear that he would immediately depart, and make no de- 
lay in any place until he had presented himself before 
the king and council in Castile. 

It was in vain that Nicuesa reminded them that he 
was governor of that territory and representative of the 
king, and that they were guilty of treason in thus oppos- 
ing him ; it was in vain that he appealed to their humani- 

* Las Casas, Hist. Ind. I. ii. c. 68. 




4' 



1511.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 145 

ty, or protested before God against their cruelty and 
persecution. The people were in that state of tumult 
when they are apt to add cruelty to injustice. Not con- 
tent with expelling the discarded governor from their 
shores, they allotted him the worst vessel in the harbour; 
an old crazy brigantine totally unfit to encounter the 
perils and labours of the sea. 

Seventeen followers embarked with him; some being 
of his household "and . attached to his person ; the rest 
were volunteers who accompanied him out of respect and 
sympathy. The frail bark set sail on the first of March, 
1511, and steered across the Caribbean sea for the island 
of Hispaniola, but was never seen or heard of more !. 

Various attempts have been made to penetrate the mys- 
tery that covers the fate of the brigantine and its crew. 
A rumour prevailed sOme years afterwards that several 
Spaniards, wandering along the shore of Cuba, found the 
following inscription carved on a tree ; — 

Aqui fenecio el desdicadoNicuesa. 
(Here perished the unfortunate Nicuesa.) 

Hence it was inferred that he and his followers had 
landed there, and been massacred by the Indians. Las 
Casas, however, discredits this story. He accompanied 
the first Spaniards who took possession of Cuba, and heard 
nothing of the fact, as he most probably would have done 
had it really occurred. He imagines, rather, that the 
crazy bark was swallowed up by the storms and currents 
of the Caribbean sea, or that the crew perished with hun- 
ger and thirst, having been but scantily supplied with 
provisions. The good old bishop adds, with the super- 
stitious feeling prevalent in that age, that a short time 

19 






146 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

before Nicuesa sailed from Spain on his expedition, an 
astrologer warned him not to depart on the day he had 
appointed, or under a certain sign; the cavalier replied, 
however, that he had less confidence in the stars than in 
God who made them. "I recollect, moreover," adds 
Las Casas, " that about this time a comet was seen over 
this island of Hispaniola, which, if I do not forget, was 
in the shape of a sword ; and it was said that a monk 
warned several of those about to embark with Nicuesa, to 
avoid that captain, for the heavens foretold he was des- 
tined to be lost. The same, however," he concludes, 
^^ might be said of Alonzo de Ojeda, who sailed at the 
same time, yet returned to San Domingo and died in his 
bed."*- 

* Las Casas, ut sup. c. 68. 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 147 



VASCO NUNEZ. DE BALBOA, 

DISCOVERER OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

CHAPTER I. 

Factions at Darien — Vasco Ntmez elected to the Command. 

We have traced the disastrous fortunes of Alonzo de 
Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa, we have now to re- 
cord the story of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, an adven- 
turer equally daring, far more renowned, and not 
less unfortunate, who, in a manner, rose upon their 
ruins. 

When the bark disappeared from view which bore the 
ill-starred Nicuesa from the shores of Darien, the com- 
munity relapsed into factions, as to who should have the 
rule. The Bachelor Enciso insisted upon his claims as 
paramount, but he met with a powerful opponent in Vas- 
co Nunez, who had become a great favourite with the 
people, from his frank and fearless character, and his 
winning affability. In fact, he was peculiarly calculated 
to manage the fiery and factious, yet generous and sus- 
ceptible, nature of his countrymen ; for the Spaniards, 
though proud and resentful, and impatient of indignity 
or restraint, are easily dazzled by valour, and won by 



148 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

courtesy and kindness. Vasco Nunez had the external 
requisites also to captivate the n^ultitude. He was now 
about thirty-five years of age ; tall, well formed, and vi- 
gorous, with reddish hair, and an open prepossessing coun- 
tenance. His office of Alcalde, while it clothed him with 
influence and importance, tempered those irregular and 
dissolute habits he might have indulged while' a mere sol- 
dier of fortune ; and his superior talent soon gave him a 
complete ascendancy over his official colleague Zamudio. 
He was thus enabled to set on foot a vigorous opposition 
to Enciso. Still he proceeded according to the forms of 
law, and summoned the Bachelor to trial, on the charge 
of usurping the powers of Alcalde Mayor, on the mere 
appointment of Alonzo de Ojjeda, whose jurisdiction did 
not extend to this province. 

Enciso was an able lawyer, and pleacjed his cause 
skilfully; but his claims were, in fact, fallacious, and, 
had they not been so, he had to deal with men who cared 
little for law, who had been irritated by his legal exac- 
tions, and who were disposed to be governed by a man of 
the sword rather than of the robe. He was readily 
found guilty therefore,, and thrown into prison, and all 
his property was confiscated. This was a violent ver- 
dict, and rashly executed ; but justice seemed to grow 
fierce and wild when transplanted to the wilderness 
of the new world. Still there is no place where 
wrong can be committed with impunity; the oppres- 
sion of the Bachelor Enciso, though exercised un- 
der the forms of law, and in a region remote from 
the pale of civilized life, redounded to the eventual 
injury of Vasco Nunez, and contributed to blast the 
fruits of that ambition it was intended to promote. 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 149 

The fortunes of the enterprising Bachelor had in- 
deed run strangely counter to the prospects with which 
he had embarked at San Domingo; he had become 
a culprit at the bar instead of a judge upon the bench ; 
and now was left to ruminate in a prison on the fail- 
ure of his late attempt at general command. His 
friends, however, interceded warmly in his behalf, 
and at length obtained his release from confinement, 
and permission for him to return to Spain. Vasco Nu- 
ilez foresaw that the lawyer would be apt to plead his 
cause more effectually at the court of Castile than he had 
done before the partial and prejudiced tribunal of 
Darien. He prevailed upon his fellow Alcalde Za- 
mudio, therefore, who was implicated with him in 
the late transactions, to return to Spain in the same 
vessel with the Bachelor, so as to be on the spot to 
answer his charges, and to give a favourable report 
of the case. He was also instructed to set forth 
the services of Vasco Nunez, both in guiding the 
colonists to this place, and in managing the affairs of 
the settlement; and to dwell with emphasis on the 
symptoms of great riches in the surrounding country. 

The Bachelor and the Alcalde embarked in a small 
caravel ; and, as it was to touch at Hispaniola, Vasco 
Nunez sent his confidential friend, the Regidor Val- 
divia, to that island to obtain provisions and recruits. 
He secretly put into his hands a round sum of gold as a 
present to Miguel de Pasamonte, the royal treasurer of 
Hispaniola, whom he knew to have great credit with the 
king, and to be invested with extensive powers, craving 
at the same time his protection in the new world and his 
influence at court. 



150 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

Having taken these shrewd precautions, Vasco Nunez 
saw the caravel depart without dismay, though bearing 
to Spain his most dangerous enemy ; he consoled himself, 
moreover, with the reflection that it likewise bore off his 
fellow Alcalde Zamudio, and thus left him in sole com- 
mand of the colony. 



4 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 151 



CHAPTER 11. 

Expedition to Coyba — Vasco Nunez receives the daughter of a 
Cacique as hostage. 

Vasco Nunez now exerted himself to prove his ca- 
pacity for the government to which he had aspired ; and 
as he knew that no proof was more convincing to King 
Ferdinand than ample remittances, and that gold covered 
all sins in the new world, his first object was to discover 
those parts of the country which most abounded in 
the precious metals. Hearing exaggerated reports of 
the riches of a province about thirty leagues distant, 
called Coyba, he sent Francisco Pizarro with six men to 
explore it. 

The cacique Zemaco, the native lord of Darien, who 
cherished a bitter hostility against the European in- 
truders, and hovered with his warriors- about the set- 
tlement, received notice of this detachment from his 
spies, and planted himself in ambush to waylay and des- 
troy it. The Spaniards had scarcely proceeded three 
leagues along the course of the river when a host of sava- 
ges burst upon them from the surrounding thickets, ut- 
tering frightful yells, and discharging showers of stones 
and arrows. Pizarro and his men, though sorely bruised 
and wounded, rushed into the thickest of the foe, slew 
many, wounded more, and put the rest to flight; but, 
fearing another assault, they made a precipitate retreat, 
leaving one of their companions, Francisco Hernan, 



152 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

disabled on the field. They arrived at the settlement 
crippled and bleeding; but when Vasco Nunez heard 
the particulars of the action, his anger was roused against 
PizarrOj and he • ordered him, though wounded, to 
return immediately -and recover the disabled man. 
^^ Let it not be said, for shame," said he, '^ that 
Spaniards fled before savages, and left a comrade in 
their hands!'' Pizarro felt the rebuke, returned to 
the scene of combat, and brought off Francisco Hernan 
in safety. 

Nothing having been heard of Nicuesa since his de- 
parture, Vasco Nunez despatched two brigantines for 
those followers of that unfortunate adventurer who had 
remained at Nombre de Dios. They were overjoyed 
at being rescued from their forlorn situation, and con- 
veyed to a settlement where there was some prospect 
of comfortable subsistence. The brigantines, in coast- 
ing the shores of the Isthmus, picked up two Spaniards, 
clad in painted skins, and looking as wild as the native 
Indians. These men, to. escape some punishment, had 
fled from the ship of Nicuesa about a year and a half 
before, and had taken refuge with Careta, the cacique 
of Coyba. The savage chieftain had treated them with 
hospitable kindness; their first return for- which, now 
that they found themselves safe among their country- 
men, was to advise the latter to invade the cacique in 
his dwelling, where they assured them they would 
find immense booty. Finding their suggestion lis- 
tened to, one of them proceeded to Darien, to serve as 
a guide to any expedition that might be set on foot; 
the other returned, to the cacique, to assist in betraying 
him. 

Vasco Nufiez was elated by the intelligence received 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 153 

through these vagabonds of the wilderness. He chose 
a hundred and thirty well armed and resolute men^ and 
set off for Coyba, the dominions of Careta. The cacique 
received the Spaniards in his mansion with the accus- 
tomed hospitality of a savage, setting before them meat 
and drink, and whatever his house afforded; but when 
Vasco Nunez asked for a large supply of provisions for 
the colony, he declared that he had none to spare, his 
people having been prevented from cultivating the soil 
by a war which he was waging with the neighbouring 
cacique of Ponca. The Spanish traitor, who had re- 
mained to betray his benefactor, now took Vasco Nuiiez 
aside, and assured him that the cacique had an abundant 
hoard of provisions in secret: he advised him, however, 
to seem to believe his words, and to make a pretended de- 
parture for Darien with his troops, but to return in the 
night and take the village by surprise. Vasco Nuiiez 
adopted the advice of the traitor. He took a cordial 
leave of Careta, and set off for the settlement. In the 
dead of the night, however, when the savages were bu- 
ried in deep sleep, Vasco Nunez led his men into the 
midst of the village, and, before the inhabitants could 
rouse themselves to resistance, made captives of Careta, 
his wives, and children, and many of his people. He 
discovered also the .hoard of provisions, with which he 
loaded two brigantines, and returned with liis booty and 
his captives to Darien. 

When the unfortunate cacique beheld his family in 
chains, and in the hands of strangers, his heart was wrung 
with despair; '^What have I done to thee,*" said he to 
Vasco Nunez, "'that thou shouldst treat me thus cruelly? 
none of thy people ever came to my land that were not 
fed, and sheltered, and treated with loving kindness. 

20 



154 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 

When thou earnest to my dwelling, did I meet thee with 
a javelin in my hand? Did I not set meat and drink be- 
fore thee, and welcome thee as a brother? Set me free 
therefore, with my family and people, and we will re- 
main thy friends. We will supply thee with provisions, 
and reveal to thee the riches of the land. Dost thou 
doubt my faith? Behold my daughter, I give her to 
thee as a pledge of friendship. Take her for thy wife, 
and be assured of the fidelity of her family and her 
people!" 

Vasco Nunez felt the force of these words and knew 
the importance of forming a strong alliance among the 
natives. The captive maid, also, as she stood trembling 
and dejected before him, found great favour in his eyes, 
for she was young and beautiful. He granted, therefore, 
the prayer of the cacique, and accepted his laugh- 
ter, engaging moreover, to aid the father againsu his 
enemies, on condition of his furnishing provisions to the 
colony. 

Careta remained three days at Darien, during which 
time, he was treated with the utmost kindness. Vasco 
Nuiiez took him on board of his ships and showed him 
every part of them. He displayed before him also the 
war horses, with their armour and rich caparisons, and 
astonished him with the thunder of artillery. Lest he 
should be too much daunted by these warlike spectacles, 
he caused the musicians to' perform a harmonious con- 
cert on their instruments, at which the cacique was lost 
in admiration. Thus having impressed him with a won- 
derful idea of the power and endowments of his new 
allies, he loaded him with presents and permitted him to 
depart.* 

* P. Martyr, D. :^. c. vi. 



• *&& 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 155 

Careta returned joyfully to his territories, and his 
daughter remained with Vasco Nunez, willingly for his 
sake giving up her family and native home. They were 
never married, but she considered herself his wife, as 
she really was, according to the usages df her own coun- 
try, and he treated her with fondness, allowing her gradu- 
ally to acquire great influence over him. To his affec- 
tion for this damsel, his ultimate ruin is, in some measure, 
to be ascribed. 



156 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511. 



" • CHAPTER III. 

Vasca A'u/ie: hears of a Sea heyoml the Mountains. 

Vasco Nunez kept his word with the father of his In- 
dian beauty. Taking with him eighty men^ and his 
companion in arms Rodrigo Enriquez de Cohiienares, he 
repaired by sea to Coyba, the province of the cacique.' 
Here landing, he invaded the territories of Ponca, the 
great adversary of Careta, and obliged him to take refuge 
in the mountains. He then ravaged his lands, and sacked 
his villages, in which he found considerable booty. Re- 
turning to Coyba, where he was joyfully entertained by 
Careta, he next made a fi'iendly visit to the adjacent pro- 
vince of Comagre, which was u^der the sway of a ca- 
cique, of the same name, who had 3000 fighting men at 
his command. 

This province was situated at the foot of a lofty moun- 
tain in a beautiful plain, twelve leagues in extent. On 
the approach of Vasco Nunez, the cacique came forth to 
meet him, attended by seven sons, all fine young jnen, the 
ofFspring of his various wives. He was followed by his 
principal chiefs and warriors, and by a multitude of his 
people. The Spaniards were conducted with great 
ceremony to the village, whfere quarters were assigned 
them, and they were furnished with abundance of pro- 
visions, and men and women were appointed to attend 
upon them. 

The dwelling of the cacique surpassed any they had 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, 157 

yet seen for magnitude^ and for the skill and solidity of 
the architecture. It was one hundred and fifty paces in 
length, and eighty in breadth, founded upon gi'eat logSy 
surrounded with a stone wall ; while the upper part was 
of wood work, curiously interwoven, and wrought with 
such beauty as to fill the Spaniards with surprise and ad- 
miration. It contained many commodious apartments. 
There were store rooms also ; one filled with bread, with 
venison, and other provisions ; another with various spi- 
rituous beverages, which the Indians made from maize,, 
from a species of the palm, and from roots of different 
kinds. There was also a great hall in a retired and se- 
cret part of the building, wherein Comagre preserved 
the bodies of his ancestors and relatives. These had 
been dried by the fire, so as to free them from corrup- 
tion, and afterwards wrapped in mantles of cotton, richly 
wrought and interwoven with pearls and; jewels of gold, 
and with certain stones held precious by the natives.. 
They were then hung about the hall with cords of cotton^ 
and regarded with great reverence, if not a species oif 
religious devotion. 

Among the sons of the cacique, the eldest was of a lofty 
and generous spirit, and distinguished above the rest by 
his superior intelligence and sagacity. Perceiving, says 
old Peter Martyr, that the Spaniards were a ''■ wander- 
ing kind of men, living only by shifts and spoil," he 
sought to gain favour for himself and family by gratifying 
their avarice. He gave Vasco Nunez and Colmenares^^ 
therefore, 4000 ounces of gold, wrought into various or- 
naments, together with sixty slaves, being captives that 
he had taken in the wars, Vasco Nunez ordered one 
fifth of the gold to be weighed out and set apart for the 
crown, and the rest to be shared among his followers. 



158 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1311. 

The division of the gold took place in the porch of the 
dwelling of Comagre, in the presence of the youthful 
cacique who had made the gift. As the Spaniards were 
weighing it out, a violent quarrel arose among them as to 
the size and value of the pieces which fell to their re- 
spective shares. The high minded savage was disgusted 
at this sordid brawl among beings whom he had regarded 
with such reverence. In the first impulse of his disdain 
he struck the scale swith his fist, and scattered the glit- 
tering gold about the porch. Before the Spaniards 
could recover from their astonishment at this sudden act, 
he thus addressed them, ^^ Why should you quarrel for 
such a trifle? If this gold is indeed so precious in your 
eyes, that for it alone you abandon your homes, invade the 
peaceful lands of others, and expose yourselves to such 
sufferings and perils, I will tell you of a region where you 
may gratify your wishes to the utmost. Behold those 
lofty mountains,"' continued he, pointing to the south. 
^^ Beyond these lies a mighty sea, which may be discern- 
ed from their summit. It is navigated by people who 
have vessels almost as large as yours, and furnished, like 
them, with sails and oars. All the streams which flow 
down the southern side of those mountains into that sea 
abound in gold ; and the kings who reign upon its bor- 
ders eat and drink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, 
is as plentiful and common among those people of the 
south as iron is among you Spaniards." 

Struck with this intelligence, Va.sco Nunez inquired 
eagerly as to the means of penetrating to this sea and to 
the opulent regions on its shores. ^^ The task," replied 
the prince, " is diflicult and dangerous. You must pass 
through the territories of many powerful caciques, who 
will oppose you with hosts of warriors. Some parts of 



1511.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 159 

the mountains are infested by fierce and cruel cannibals, 
a wandering lawless race : but, above all, you will have 
to encounter the great cacique Tubariama, whose terri- 
tories are at the distance of six days journey, and more 
rich in gold than any other province ; this cacique will 
be sure to come forth against you with a mighty force. 
To accomplish your enterprise, therefore, will require at 
least a thousand men armed like those who follow you." 

The youthful cacique gave him further information on 
the subject, collected from various captives whom he had 
taken in battle, and from one of his own nation, who had 
been for a long time in captivity to Tubanama, the 
powerful cacique of the golden realm. The prince, 
moreover, offered to prove the sincerity of his words by 
accompanying Vasco Nunez in any expedition to those 
parts at the head of his father's warriors. 

Such was the first intimation received by Vasco 
Nunez of the Pacific Ocean and its golden realms, and it 
had an immediate effect upon his whole character and 
conduct. This hitherto wandering and desperate man 
had now an enterprise opened to his ambition, which, if 
accomplished, would elevate him to fame and fortune, 
and entitle him to rank among the great captains and dis- 
coverers of the earth. Henceforth the discovery of the 
sea beyond the mountains was the great object of his 
thoughts, and his whole spirit seemed roused and enno- 
bled by the idea. ^ . 

He hastened his return to Darien, to make the neces- 
sary preparations for this splendid enterprise. Before 
departing from the province of Comagre he baptized that 
cacique by the name of Don Carlos, and performed the 
;>ame ceremony upon his sons and several of his sub- 



160 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1511, 

jects; — thus singularly did avarice and religion go hand 
in hand in the conduct of the Spanish discoverers. 

Scarcely had Vasco Nunez returned to Darien when 
the Regidor Valdivia arrived there from Hispaniola, but 
with no more provisions than could be brought in his 
small caraveL These were soon consumed, and the ge- 
neral scarcity continued. It was heightened also by a 
violent tempest of thunder, lightning, and rain, which 
brought such torrents from the mountains that the river 
swelled and overflowed its banks, laying waste all the ad- 
jacent fields that had been cultivated. In this extremity 
Vasco Nunez despatched Valdivia a second time to Hi- 
spaniola for provisions. Animated also by the loftier 
views of his present ambition, he wrote to Don Diego 
Columbus, who governed at San Domingo, informing him 
of the intelligence he had received of a great sea and 
opulent realms beyond the mountains, and entreating him 
to use his influence with the king that one thousand men 
might be immediately furnished him for the prosecution 
of so grand a discovery. He sent him also the amount 
of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to be remitted to the 
king as the royal fifths of what had already been collect- 
ed under his jurisdiction. Many of his followers, also, 
forwarded sums of gold to be remitted to their creditors 
in Spain. In the mean time, Vasco Nuiiez prayed the 
admiral to yield him prompt succour to enable him to 
keep his footing in the land, representing the difiiculty 
he had in maintaining, with a mere handful of men, so 
vast a country in a state of subjection. 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 161 



CHAPTER ly. 

Expedition of Vasco JYunez in quest of the Goldeti Temple of Do- 
bayba.— (1512.) 

While Vasco Nunez awaited the result of this mission 
of Valdivia, his active disposition prompted him to under- 
take foraging excursions into the surrounding country. 

Among various rumours of golden realms in the inte- 
rior of this unknown land, was one concerning a province 
called Dobayba, situated about forty leagues distant, on 
the banks of a great river which emptied itself, by several 
mouths, into a corner of the Gulf of Uraba. 

This province derived its name, according to Indian 
tradition, from a mighty female of the olden time, the 
mother of the god who created the sun and moon and all 
good things. She had power over the elements, sending 
thunder and lightning to lay waste the lands of those 
who displeased her, but showering down fertility and 
abundance upon the lands of her faithful worshippers. 
Others described her as having been an Indian princess 
who once reigned amongst the mountains of Dobayba, and 
was renowned throughout the land for her supernatural 
power and wisdom. After her death, divine honours 
were paid her, and a great temple was erected for her 
worship. Hither the natives repaired from far and near, 
on a kind of pilgrimage, bearing offerings of their most 
valuable effects. The caciques who ruled over distant 
territories, also sent golden tributes, at certain times of 

21 



162 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

the year, to be deposited in this temple, and slaves to be 
sacrificed at its shrine. At one time, it was added, this 
worship fell into disuse, the pilgrimages were discon- 
tinued, and the caciques neglected to send their tributes; 
whereupon the deity, as a punishment, inflicted a drought 
upon the country. The springs and. fountains failed, the 
rivers were dried up; the inhabitants of the mountains 
were obliged to descend into the plains, were they digged 
pits and wells, but these likewise failing, a great part of 
the nations perished vvith thirst. The remainder hasten- 
ed to propitiate the deity by tributes and sacrifices, and 
thus succeeded in averting her displeasure. In conse- 
quence of offerings of the kind, made for generations from 
all parts of the country, the temple was said to be filled 
with treasure, and its walls to be covered with golden 
gifts.* In addition to the tale of this temple, the Indians 
gave marvellous accounts of the general wealth of this 
province, declaring that it abounded with mines of gold, 
the veins of which reached from the dwelling of the ca- 
cique to the borders of his dominions. 

To penetrate to this territory, and above all to secure 
the treasures of the golden temple, was an enterprise 
suited to the adventurous spirit of the Spaniards. Vasco 
Nunez chose one hundred and seventy of his hardiest men 
for the purpose. Embarking them in two brigantines and 
a number of canoes, he set sail from Darien, and, after 
standing about nine leagues to the east, came to the mouth 
of the Rio Grande de San Juan, or the Great River of St. 
John, also"called the Atrato, which is since ascertained to 
be one of the branches of the river Darien. Here he de- 
tached Rodrigo Enriquez de Colmenares with one third 

* P. Martyr, decad. 3. c. vi. Idem, d, 7. c. x. 



1512.] V4SC0 NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 163 

of his forces to explore the stream, while he himself pro- 
ceeded with the residue to another branch of the river, 
which he was told flowed from the province of Dobayba, 
and which he ascended, flushed with sanguine expecta- 
tions.* 

His old enemy Zemaco, the cacique of Darien, how- 
ever, had discovered the object of his expedition, and had 
taken measures to disappoint it : repairing to the province 
of Dobayba, he had prevailed upon its cacique to retire 
at the approach of the Spaniards, leaving his country 
deserted. 

Vasco Nuiiez found a village situated in a marshy neigh- 
bourhood, on the banks of the river, and mistook it for 
the residence of the cacique : it was silent and abandoned. 
There was not an Indian to be met with, from whom he 
could obtain any information about the country, or who 
could guide him to the golden temple. He was disap- 
pointed, also, in his hopes of obtaining a supply of pro- 
visions, but he found weapons of various kinds hanging in 
the deserted houses, and gathered jewels and pieces of 
gold to the value of seven thousand castellanos. Dis- 
couraged by the savage look of the surrounding wilder- 
ness, which was perplexed by deep morasses, and having 

* In recording this expedition, the author has followed the old 
Spanish narratives, written when the face of the country was but 
little known, and he was much perplexed to reconcile the accounts 
given of numerous streams with the rivers laid down on modern 
maps. By a clear and judicious explanation, given in the recent 
work of Don Manuel Josef Quintana, it appears that the different 
streams explored by Vasco Nunez and Colmcnares were all branches 
of one grand river, which, descending from the mountains of the 
interior, winds about in crystal streams among the plains and mo- 
rasses bordering the bottom of the great gulf of Darien, and dis- 
charges itself by various mouths into the gulf. In fact, the stream 
which ran by the infant city of Santa Maria de la Antigua was but. 
one of its branches, a fact entirely unknown to Vasco Nuiiez and 
his companions. 



164 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

no guides to aid him in exploring it, he put all the booty 
he had collected into two large canoes, and made his way 
back to the Gulf of Uraba. Here he was assailed by a 
violent tempest which nearly wrecked his two brigan- 
tines, and obliged him to throw a great part of their car- 
goes overboard. The two canoes containing the booty 
were swallowed up by the raging sea, and all their crews 
perished. 

Thus baffled and tempest- tost, Vasco Nunez at length 
succeeded in getting into what was termed the Grand 
River, which he ascended, and rejoined Colmenares and 
his detachment. They now extended their excursions 
up a stream which emptied into the Grand River, and 
which, from the dark hue of its waters, they called Rio 
Negro, or the Black River. They also explored certain 
other tributary streams, branching from it, though not 
without occasional skirmishes with the natives. 

Ascending one of these minor rivers with a part of his 
men, Vasco Nunez came to the territories of a cacique 
named Abibeyba, who reigned over a region of marshes 
and shallow lakes. The habitations of the natives were 
built amidst the branches of immense and lofty trees. 
They were large enough to contain whole family connex- 
ions, and were constructed partly of wood, partly of a 
kind of wicker work, combining strength and pliability, 
and yielding uninjured to the motion of the branches 
when agitated by the wind. The inhabitants ascended 
to them, with great agility, by light ladders, formed of 
great reeds split through the middle, for the reeds 
on this coast grow to the thickness of a man's body. 
These ladders they drew up after them at night, or in 
case of attack. These habitations were well stocked 
with provisions ; but the fermented beverages, of which 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 165 

these people had always a supply, were buried in vessels 
in the earth, at the foot of the tree, lest they should be 
rendered turbid by the rocking of the houses. Close by, 
also, were the canoes with which they navigated the 
rivers and ponds of their marshy country, and followed 
their main occupation of fishing. 

On the approach of the Spaniards, the Indians took 
refuge in their tree-built castles, and drew up the lad- 
ders. The former called upon them to descend and to 
fear nothing. Upon this the cacique replied, entreating 
that he might not be molested, seeing he had done them 
no injury. They threatened, unless he came down, to 
fell the trees, or to set fire to them and burn him and his 
wives and children. The cacique was disposed to con- 
sent, but was prevented by the entreaties of his people. 
Upon this the Spaniards prepared to hew down the trees, 
but were assailed by showers of stones. They covered 
themselves however with their bucklers, assailed the 
trees vigorously with their hatchets, and soon compelled 
the inhabitants to capitulate. The cacique descended with 
his wife and two of his children. The first demand of the 
Spaniards was for gold. He assured them he had none; 
for, having no need of it, he had never made it an object 
of his search. Being importuned, however, he assured 
them that if he were permitted to repair to certain moun- 
tains at a distance, he would in a few days return, and 
bring them what they desired. They permitted him to 
depart, retaining his wife and children as hostages, but 
they saw no more of the cacique. After remaining here 
a few days, and regaling on the provisions which they 
found in abundance, they continued their foraging expe- 
ditions, often opposed by the bold and warlike natives. 



166 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

and suffering occasional loss, but inflicting great havoc 
on their opposers. 

Having thus overrun a considerable extent of country, 
and no grand object presenting to lure him on to further 
enterprise, Vasco Nunez at length returned to Darien 
with the spoils and captives he had taken, leaving Barto- 
lome Hurtado with thirty men in an Indian village on the 
Rio Negro, or Black River, to hold the country in sub- 
jection. Thus terminated the first expedition in quest 
of the golden temple Dobayba, which, for some time, 
continued to be a favourite object of enterprise among 
the adventurers of Darien. 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 167 



CHAPTER V. 

Disaster on the Black River — Indian plot against Darien. 

Bartolome Hurtado, being left to his own discre- 
tion on the banks of the Black River, occupied himself 
occasionally in hunting the scattered natives who strag- 
gled about the surrounding forests. Having in this way 
picked up twenty-four captives, he put them on board 
of a large canoe, like so much live stock, to be trans- 
ported to Darien and sold as slaves. Twenty of his fol- 
lowers, who were infirm either from wounds or the dis- 
eases of the climate, embarked also in the canoe, so that 
only ten men remained with Hurtado. 

The great canoe, thus heavily freighted, descended 
the Black River slowly, between banks overhung with 
forests. Zemaco, the indefatigable cacique of Darien, 
was on the watch, and waylaid the ark with four canoes 
filled with warriors, armed with war clubs, and lances 
hardened in the fire. The Spaniards being sick, could 
make but feeble resistance ; some were massacred, others 
leaped into the river and were drowned. Two only es- 
caped, by clinging to two trunks of trees that were float- 
ing down the river, and covering themselves with the 
branches. Reaching the shore in safety, they returned 
to Bartolome Hurtado with the tragical tidings of the 
death of his followers. Hurtado was so disheartened by 
the news, and so dismayed ^t his own helpless situation, 
in the midst of a hostile country, that he resolved to 



168 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

abandon the fatal shores of the Black River and return to 
Darien. He was quickened in this resolution by receiv- 
ing intimation of a conspiracy forming among the natives. 
The implacable Zemaco had drawn four other caciques 
into a secret plan to assemble their vassals and make a 
sudden attack upon Darien. Hurtado hastened with the 
remnant of his followers to carry tidings to the settle- 
ment of this conspiracy. Many of the inhabitants were 
alarmed at his intelligence ; others treated it as a false 
rumour of the Indians, and no preparations were made 
against what might be a mere imaginary danger. 

Fortunately for the Spaniards, among the female cap- 
tives owned by Vasco Nunez was an Indian damsel named 
Fulvia ; to whom, in consequence of her beauty, he had 
shown great favour, and who had become strongly at- 
tached to him. She had a brother among the warriors of 
Zemaco, who often visited her in secret. In one of his 
visits, he informed her that on a certain night the settle- 
ment would be attacked and every Spaniard destroyed. 
He charged her, therefore, to hide herself that night in 
a certain place until he should come to her aid, lest she 
should be slain in the confusion of the massacre. 

When her brother was gone, a violent struggle took 
place in the bosom of the Indian girl between her feeling 
for her family and her people, and her affection for Vasco 
Nunez. The latter at length prevailed, and she revealed 
all that had been told to her. Vasco Nunez prevailed 
upon her to send for her brother under pretence of aid- 
ing her to escape. Having him in his power, he ex- 
torted from him all that he knew of the designs of the 
enemy. His confessions showed what imminent danger 
had been lurking round Vasc^ Nuiiez in his most unsus- 
pecting moments. The prisoner informed him that he 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 169 

had been one of forty Indians sent some time before by 
the cacique Zemaco to Vasco Nunez, in seeming friend- 
ship, to be employed by him in cultivating the fields ad- 
jacent to the settlement. They had secret orders, 
however, to take an opportunity when Vasco Nunez 
should come forth to inspect their work, to set upon him 
in an unguarded moment, and destroy him. Fortunately, 
Vasco Nunez always visited the fields mounted on his 
war horse, and armed with lance and target. The In- 
dians were therefore so awed by his martial appearance, 
and by the terrible animal he bestrode, that they dared 
not attack him. 

Foiled in this and other attempts of the kind, Zemaco 
resorted to the conspiracy with the neighbouring ca- 
ciques with which the settlement was menaced. 

Five caciques had joined in the confederacy : they had 
prepared a hundred canoes ; had amassed provisions for 
an army, and had concerted to assemble five thousand 
picked warriors at a certain time and place ; with these 
they were to make an attack on the settlement by land 
and water, in the middle of the night, and to slaughter 
every Spaniard. 

Having learnt where the confederate chiefs were to be 
found, and where they had deposited their provisions, 
Vasco Nunez chose seventy of his best men well armed, 
and made a circuit by land, while Colmenares, with sixty 
men, sallied forth secretly in four canoes, guided by the 
Indian prisoner. In this way they surprised the general 
of the Indian army and several of the principal confeder- 
ates, and got possession of all their provisions, though 
they failed to capture the formidable Zemaco. The 
Indian general was shot to death with arrows, and the 
leaders of the conspiracy were hanged in presence of 

22 



170 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

their captive followei*s. The defeat of this deep laid 
plan, and the punishment of its devisers, spread terror 
throughout the neighbouring provinces, and prevented 
any further attempt at hostilities. Vasco Nunez, how- 
ever, caused a strong fortress of wood to be immediately 
erected, to guard against any future assaults of the 
savages. 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE UALBOA. 171 



CHAPTER \I. 

Further Factions hi ^ the Colony. Arrogance of Alonzo Perez and 
'the Bachelor Corral.— {1512.) 

A CONSIDERABLE time had now elapsed since the de- 
])arture of Yaldivia for Hispaniola, yet no tidings had 
))een received from him. Many began to fear that some 
disaster had befallen him ; while others insinuated that it 
was possible both he and Zamudio might have neglected 
the objects of their mission, and, having appropriated to 
their own use the gold with which they had been en- 
trusted, might have abandoned the colony to its fate. 

Vasco Nunez himself was harassed by these surmises; 
and by the dread lest the Bachelor Enciso should succeed 
in prejudicing the mind of his sovereign against him. 
Impatient of this state of anxious suspense, he deter- 
mined to repair to Spain, to communicate in person all 
that he had heard concerning the Southern Sea, and to 
ask for the troops necessary for its discovery. 

Every one, however, both friend and foe, exclaimed 
against such a measure, representing his presence as indis- 
pensable to the safety of the colony, from his great talents 
as a commander, and the fear entertained of him by the 
Indians. 

After much debate and contention, it was at length 
agreed that Juan dc Cayzedo and Rodrigo Enriquez de 
Colmcnarcs should go in his place, instructed to make all 



i 



172 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

necessary representations to the king. Letters were 
written also, containing the most extravagant accounts of 
the riches of the country •» partly dictated by the san- 
guine hopes of the writers, and partly by the fables of the 
natives. The rumoured wealth of the province of Do- 
bayba, and the treasures of its golden temple were not 
forgotten ; and an Indian was taken to Spain by the com- 
missioners, a native of the province ofZenu, where gold 
was said to be gathered in nets stretched across the moun- 
tain streams. To give more weight to all these stories, 
every one contributed some portion of gold from his pri- 
vate hoard, to be presented to the king in addition to the 
amount arising from his fifths. 

But little time elapsed after the departure of the com- 
missioners when new dissensions broke out in the colony. 
It was hardly to be expected thiit a fortuitous assemblage 
of adventurers could remain long tranquil during a time 
of suffering, under rulers of questionable authority. 
Vasco Nunez, it is true, had risen by his courage and 
abilities : but he had risen from among their ranks ; he 
was in a manner of their own creation ; and they had not 
become sufficiently accustomed to him as a governor, to 
forget that he was recently but a mere soldier of fortune, 
and an absconding debtor. 

Their factious discontent, however, was directed at 
first against a favourite of Vasco Nunez, rather than 
against himself. He had invested Bartolome Hurtado, 
the commander of the Black River, with considerable 
authority in the colony, and the latter gave great offence 
by his oppressive conduct. Hurtado had particularly 
aggrieved by his arrogance one Alonzo Perez de la Rua, 
a touchy cavalier, jealous of his honour, who seems to 
have peculiarly possessed the sensitive punctilio of a 



■m- 



1512.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. ■'•''•II, 

Spaniard. Firing at some indignity? whether real or '- 
fancied, Alonzo Perez threw himself into the ranks of 
the disaffected, and was immediately chosen as their 
leader. Thus hacked by a faction, he clamoured loudly 
for the punishment of Hurtado; and, finding his demands 
unattended to, threw out threats of deposing Vasco 
Nunez. The latter no sooner heard of these menaces, 
than with his usual spirit and promptness, he seized upon 
the testy Alonzo Perez, and threw him in prison, to 
digest his indignities and cool his passions at leisure. 

The conspirators flew to arms to liberate their leader. 
The friends of Vasco Nunez were equally on the alert. 
The two parties drew out in battle array in the public 
square, and a sanguinary conflict was on the point of 
taking place. Fortunately there were some cool heads 
left in the colony. These interfered at the critical mo- 
ment, representing to the angry adversaries that, if they 
fought among themselves, and diminished their already 
scanty numbers, even the conquerors must eventually 
fall a prey to the Indians. 

Their remonstrances had effect. A parley ensued, and, 
after much noisy debate, a kind of compromise was made. 
Alonzo Perez was liberated, and the mutineers dispersed 
quietly to their homes. The next day, however, they 
were again in arms, and seized upon Bartolome Hurtado; 
but after a little while were prevailed upon to set him 
free. Their factious views seemed turned to a higher 
object. They broke forth into loud murmurs against 
Vasco Nunez, complaining that he had not made a fair 
division of the gold and slaves taken in the late expedi- 
tions, and threatening to arrest him and bring him to ac- 
count. Above all, they clamoured' for an immediate dis- 



1 



174 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 1512.] 

tributioii of ten thousand castellanos in gold^ which yet 
remained unshared. 

Yasco Nunez understood too well the riotous nature of 
the people under him, and his own precarious hold on 
their obedience, to attempt to cope with them in this 
moment of turbulence. He shrewdly determined, there- 
fore, to withdraw from the sight of the multitude, and to 
leave them to divide the spoil among themselves, trusting 
to their own strife for his security. That very night he 
sallied forth into the country, under pretence of going on 
a hunting expedition. 

The next morning the mutineers found themselves in 
possession of the field. Alonzo Perez, the pragmatical 
ringleader, immediately assumed the command, seconded 
by the Bachelor Corral. Their first measure was to seize 
upon the ten thousand castellanos, and to divide them 
among the multitude, by way of securing their own popu- 
larity. The event proved the sagacity and forethought 
of Vasco Nunez. Scarcely had these hot-headed inter- 
meddlers entered upon the partition of the gold, than a fu- 
rious strife arose. Every one was dissatisfied with his 
share, considering his merits entitled to peculiar recom- 
pense. Every attempt to appease the rabble only aug- 
mented their violence, and in their rage they swore that 
Vasco Nunez had always shown more judgment and dis- 
crimination in his distributions to men of merit. 

The adherents of the latter now ventured to lift up 
their voices; ^' Vasco Nunez,-' said they, "won the gold 
by his enterprise and valour, and would have shared it 
with the brave and the deserving : but these men have 
seized upon it by factious means, and would sqiiander it 
upon their minions.'' The multitude, who. in fact, ad- 



1512.] VASGO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 175 

mired the soklier-like qualities of Vasco Nufiez, displayed 
one of the customary reverses of popular feeling. The 
touchy Alonzo Perez, his coadjutor the Bachelor Corral, 
and several other of the ringleaders were seized, thrown 
in irons, and confined in the fortress ; and Vasco Nunez 
was recalled with loud acclamations to the settlement. A 

How long this pseudo commander might have been able M 

to manage the unsteady populace it is impossible to say, " 

but just at this juncture two ships arrived from Hispan- 
iola, freighted with supplies, and bringing a reinforce- 
ment of one hundred and fifty men. They brought also 
a commission to Vasco Nunez, signed by Miguel de Pas- 
amonte, the royal treasurer of Hispaniola, to whom he 
had sent a private present of gold, constituting him cap- 
tain-general of the colony. It is doubtful whether Pasa- 
monte possessed the power to confer such a commission, 
though it is aflirmed that the king had clothed him with 
it, as a kind of check upon the authority of the admiral 
Don Diego Columbus, then Governor of Hispaniola, of 
whose extensive sway in the new world the monarch was 
secretly jealous. At any rate, the treasurer appears to 
have acted in full confidence of the ultimate approbation 
of his sovereign. 

Vasco Nunez was rejoiced at receiving a commission 
which clothed him with at least the semblance of royal 
sanction. Feeling more assured in his situation, and be- 
ing naturally of a generous and forgiving temper, he was 
easily prevailed upon, in his moment of exultation, to re- 
lease and pardon Alonzo Perez, the Bachelor Corral, and 
the other ringleaders of the late commotions, and for a 
time the feuds and factions of this petty community were 
lulled to repose. 



176 



SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1313. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Vusco JVunez determines to seek the Sea beyond the Mountains. 
[1513.] 

The temporary triumph of Vasco Nunez was soon 
overcast by tidings received from Spain. His late col- 
league, the Alcalde Zamudio wrote him word that the 
Bachelor Enciso had carried his complaints to the foot of 
the throne, and succeeded in rousing the indignation of 
the king, and had obtained a sentence in his favour, con- 
demning Vasco Nunez in costs and damages. Zamudio 
informed him in addition, that he would be immediately 
summoned to repair to Spain, and answer in person the 
criminal charges advanced against him on account of the 
harsh treatment and probable death of the unfortunate 

N^icuesa 

Vasco Nunez was at first stunned by this intelligence, 

which seemed at one blow to annihilate all his hopes and 

fortunes. He was a man, however, of prompt decision 

and intrepid spirit. The information received from 

Spain was private and informal, no order had yet arrived 

from the king, he was still master of his actions, and had 

control over the colony. One brilliant achievement 

might atone for all the past, and fix him in the favour ol 

the monarch. Such an achievement was within his 

reach— the discovery of the southern sea. It is true, a 

thousand soldiers had been required for the expedition, 

but were he to wait for their arrival from Spam, his day 

of grace would be past. It was a desperate thing to un- 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 177 

dertake the task with the handful of men at his command, 
but the circumstances of the case were desperate. Fame, 
fortune, life itself, depended upon the successful and the 
prompt execution of the enterprise. To linger was to 
be lost. 

Vasco Nunez looked round upon the crew of daring 
and reckless adventurers that formed the colony, and 
chose one hundred and ninety of the most resolute and 
vigorous, and of those most devoted to his person. These 
he armed with swords, targets, cross ])ows, andarquebusses. 
He did not conceal from them the peril of the enterprise 
into which he was about to lead them ; but the spirit of 
these Spanish adventurers was always roused by the idea 
of perilous and extravagant exploit. To aid his slender 
forces, he took with him a number of bloodhounds, which 
had been found to be terrific allies in Indian warfare. 

The Spanish writers make particular mention of one 
of those animals, named Leoncico, which was a constant 
companion, and as it were body guard of Vasco Nunez, and 
describe him as minutely as they would a favourite war- 
rior. He was of a middle size, but immensely strong: 
of a dull yellow or reddish colour, with a black muzzle, 
and his body was scarred all over with wounds received 
in innumerable battles with the Indians. Vasco Nunez 
always took him on his expeditions, and sometimes lent 
him to others, receiving for his services the same share of 
booty allotted to an armed man. In this way he gained 
by him, in the course of his campaigns, upwards of a 
thousand crowns. The Indians, it is said, had conceived 
such terror of this animal, that the very sight of him 
was sufficient to put a host of them to flight.* 

* Oviedo, Hist. Indies, p. 2. c. 3. MS. 
23 



I 



178 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

In addition to these forces, Vasco Nunez took with him 
a number of the Indians of Darien, whom he had won 
to him by kindness, and whose services were important, 
from their knowledge of the wilderness, and of the ha- 
bits and resources of savage life. Such was the motley 
armament that set forth from the little colony of Darien, 
under the guidance of a daring, if not desperate com- 
mander, in quest of the great Pacific Ocean. 






1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 179 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Expedition in quest of ttie Southerti Sea. 

It was- on the first of September that Vasco Nunez 
embarked with his followers in a brigantinc and nine large 
canoes or pirogues, followed by the cheers and good 
wishes of those who remained at the settlement. Stand- 
ing to the northwestward, he arrived without accident at 
Coyba, the dominions of the cacique Careta, whose daugh- 
ter he had received as a pledge of amity. That Indian 
beauty had acquired a great influence over Vasco Nunez, 
and appears to have cemented his friendship with her 
father and her people. He was received by the cacique 
with open arms, and furnished with guides and warriors 
to aid him in his enterprise. 

Vasco Nunez left about half of his men at Coyba to 
guard the brigantine and canoes, while he should pene- 
trate the wilderness with the residue. The importance 
of his present expedition, not merely as affecting his own 
fortunes, but as it were unfolding a mighty secret of na- 
ture, seems to have impressed itself upon his spirit, and 
to have given correspondent solemnity to his conduct. 
Before setting out upon his march, he caused mass to be 
performed, and offered up prayers to God for the success 
of his perilous undertaking. 

It was on the sixth of September, that he struck off 
for the mountains. The march was difficult and toilsome 
in the extreme. The Spaniards, encumbered with the 



i 



180 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

weight of their armour and weapons, and oppressed by 
the heat of a tropical climate, were obliged to climb 
rocky precipices, and* to struggle through close and 
tangled forests. Their Indian allies aided them by car- 
rying their ammunition and provisions, and by guiding 
them to the most practicable paths. 

On the eighth of September they arrived at the village 
of Ponca, the ancient enemy of Careta. The village was 
lifeless and abandoned ; the cacique and his people had 
fled to the fastnesses of the mountains. The Spaniards 
remained here several days to recruit the health of some 
of their number who had fallen ill. It was necessary also 
to procure guides acquainted with the mountain wilder- 
ness they were approaching. The retreat of Ponca was 
at length discovered, and he was prevailed upon, though 
reluctantly, to come to Vasco Nunez. The latter had a 
peculiar facility in winning the confidence and friendship 
of the natives. The cacique was soon so captivated by 
his kindness, that he revealed to him in secret all he knew 
of the natural riches of the country. He assured him 
of the truth of what had been told him about a great 
pechry or sea beyond the mountains, and gave him several 
ornaments ingeniously wrought of fine gold, which had 
been brought from the countries upon its borders. He 
told him, moreover, that when he had attained the sum- 
mit of a lofty ridge, to which he pointed, and which 
seemed to rise up to the skies, he would behold that sea 
spread out far below him. 

Animated by the accounts, Vasco Nunez procured 
fresh guides from the cacique, and prepared to ascend 
the mountains. Numbers of his men having fallen ill 
from fatigue and the heat of the climate, he ordered them 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 181 

to return slowly to Coyba, taking with him none but such 
as were in robust and vigorous health. 

On the 20th of September, he again set forward through 
a broken rocky country, covered with a matted forest and 
intersected by deep and turbulent streams, many of which 
it was necessary to cross upon rafts. 

So toilsome was the journey, that in four days they did 
not advance above ten leagues, and in the mean time they 
suffered excessively from hunger. At the end of this 
time they arrived at the province of a warlike cacique, 
named Quaraqua, who was at war with Ponca. 

Hearing that a band of strangers were entering his ter- 
ritories, guided by the subjects of his inveterate foe, the 
cacique took the field with a large number of warriors, 
some armed with bows and arrows, others with long 
spears, or with double handed maces of palm wood, almost 
as heavy and hard as iron. Seeing the inconsiderable 
number of the Spaniards, they set upon them with fu- 
rious yells, thinking to overcome them in an instant. 
The first discharge of fire-arms, however, struck them 
with dismay. They thought they were contending with 
demons who vomited forth thunder and lightning, especial- 
ly when they saw their companions fall bleeding and dead 
beside them, without receiving any apparent blow. They 
took to headlong flight, and were hotly pursued by the 
Spaniards and their bloodhounds. Some were transfix- 
ed with lances, others hewn down with swords, and many 
were torn to pieces by the dogs, so that Quaraqua and 
six hundred of his warriors were left dead upon the field. 

A brother of the cacique and several chiefs were taken 
prisoners. They were clad in robes of white cotton. 
Either from their effeminate dress, or from the accusa- 
tions of their enemies, the Spaniards were induced to 



i 



182 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

consider them guilty of unnatural crimes, and, in their 
abhorrence and disgust, gave them to be torn to pieces 
by the bloodhounds.* 

It is also affirmed, that among the prisoners were 
several negroes, who had been slaves to the cacique. 
The Spaniards, we are told, were informed by the other 
captives, that these black men came from a region at no 
great distance, where there was a people of that colour 
with whom they were frequently at war. ^^ These," 
adds the Spanish writer, ^^were the first negroes ever 
found in the New World, and I believe no others have 
since been discovered.''! 

After this sanguinary triumph, the Spaniards marched 
to the village of Quaraqua, where they found considerable 
booty in gold and jewels. Of this Vasco Nunez reserved 
one-fifth for the crown, and shared the rest liberally 
among his followers. The village was at the foot of the 
last mountain that remained for them to climb : several of 
the Spaniards, however, were so disabled by the wounds 
they had received in battle, or so exhausted by the fa- 
tigue and hunger they had endured, that they were un- 
able to proceed. They were obliged, therefore, reluc- 
tantly to remain in the village, within sight of the moun- 
tain-top that commanded the long-sought prospect. Vasco 

* Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. 1, 1. x. c. 1. 

t Peter Martyr, in his third Decade, makes mention of these 
negroes in the following words: — "About two days' journey dis- 
tant from Quaraqua is a region inhabited only by black moors, ex- 
ceeding fierce and cruel. It is supposed that in time past certain 
black moors sailed thither out of Ethiopia, to rob, and that by ship- 
wreck, or some other chance, they were driven to these moun- 
tains." As Martyr lived and wrote at the time, he of course re- 
lated the mere rumour of the day, which all subsequent accounts 
have disproved. The other historians who mentioned the cir- 
cumstance, have probably repeated it from him. It must have 
risen from some misrepresentalion, and is not entitled to credit. 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 183. 

Nunez selected fresh guides from among his prisoners, 
who were natives of the province, and sent back the sub- 
jects of Ponca. Of the band of Spaniards who had set 
out with him in this enterpise, sixty-seven alone remain- 
ed in sufficient health and spirits for this last effort. 
These he ordered to retire early to repose, that they 
might be ready to set off at the cool and fresh hour of 
day-break, so as to reach the summit of the mountain be» 
fore the noon-tide heat. 



i 



1 






184 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Discovery of the Pacific Oceati. 

The day had scarcely dawned, when Vasco Nunez 
and his followers set forth from the Indian village and 
began to climb the height. It was a severe and rugged 
toil for men so wayworn, but they were filled with new- 
ardour at the idea of the triumphant scene that was so 
soon to repay them for all their hardships. 

About ten o'clock in the morning they emerged from 
the thick forests through which they had hitherto strug- 
gled, and arrived at a lofty and airy region of the moun- 
taih. The bald summit alone remained to be ascended, 
and their guides pointed to a moderate eminence from 
which they said the southern sea was visible. 

Upon this Vasco Nunez commanded his followers to 
iialt, and that no man should stir from his place. Then, 
with a palpitating heart, he ascended alone the bare 
mountain-top. On reaching the summit the long-desired 
prospect burst upon his view. It was as if a new world 
were unfolded to him, separated from all hitherto known 
by this mighty barrier of mountains. Below him ex- 
tended a vast chaos of rock and forest, and green savan- 
nahs and wandering streams, while at a distance the 
waters of the promised ocean glittered in the morning 
sun. 

At this glorious prospect Vasco Nunez sank upon his 
knees, and poured out thanks to God for being the first 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 185 

European to whom it was given to make that great dis- 
covery. He then called his people to ascend : "Behold, 
my friends/' said he, " that glorious sight which we 
have so much desired. Let us give thanks to God that 
he has granted us this great honour and advantage. Let 
us pray to him that he will guide and aid us to conquer 
the sea and land which we have discovered, and in which 
Christian has never entered to preach the holy doctrine 
of the Evangelists. As to yourselves, be as you have 
hitherto been, faithful and true to me, and by the favour 
of Christ you will become the richest Spaniards that have 
ever come to the Indies ; you will render the greatest 
services to your king that ever vassal rendered to his 
lord ; and you will have the eternal glory and advantage 
of all that is here discovered, conquered, and converted 
to our holy Catholic faith." 

The Spaniards answered this speech by embracing 
Vasco Nunez and promising to follow him to death. 
Among them was a priest, named Andres de Vara, who 
lifted up his voice and chanted Te Deum laudamus — 
the usual anthem of Spanish discoverers. The people, 
kneeling down, joined in the strain with pious enthusi- 
asm and tears of joy; and never did a more sincere obla- 
tion rise to the Deity from a sanctified altar than from that 
wild mountain summit. It was indeed one of the most 
sublime discoveries that had yet been made in the New 
World, and must have opened a boundless field of con- 
jecture to the wondering Spaniards. The imagination 
delights to picture forth the splendid confusion of their 
thoughts. Was this the great Indian Ocean, studded 
with precious islands, abounding in gold, in gems, and 
spices, and bordered by the gorgeous cities and wealthy 
marts of the East ? Or was it some lonely sea locked up 

24 



186 Sl'AMSll VOYAGi:S OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

in the embraces of savagfe uncultivated continents, and 
never traversed by a bark, excepting the light pirogue 
of the Indian? The latter could hardly be the case, for 
the natives had told the Spaniards of golden realms, and 
populous and powerful and luxurious nations upon its 
shores. Perhaps it might be bordered' by various people, 
civilized in fact, but differing from Europe in their civi- 
lization; who might have peculiar laws and customs and 
arts and sciences ; who might form, as it were, a world of 
their own, intercommuning by this mighty sea, and car- 
rying on commerce between thsir own islands and con- 
tinents ; but who might exist in total ignorance and in- 
dependence of the other hemisphere. 

Such may naturally have been the ideas suggested by 
the sight of this unknown ocean. It was the prevalent 
belief of the Spaniards, however, that they were the first 
Christians who had made the discovery. Vasco Nunez, 
therefore, called upon all present to witness that he took 
possession of that sea, its islands, and surrounding lands, 
in the name of the sovereigns of Castile, and the notary 
of the expedition made a testimonial of the same, to which 
all present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed 
their names. He then caused a fair and tall tree to be 
cut down and w^rought into a cross, which was elevated 
on the spot from w hence he had at first beheld the sea. 
A mound of stones was likewise piled up to serve as a 
monument, and the names of the Castilian sovereigns 
were carved on the neighbouring trees. The Indians 
beheld all these ceremonials and rejoicings in silent won- 
der, and, wliile they aided to erect the cross and pile up 
the mound of stones, marvelled exceedingly at the mean- 
ing of these monuments, little thinking that they marked 
the subjugation of their land. 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 187 

The memorable event here recorded took place on the 
26th of September, 1513; so that the Spaniards had been 
twenty days performing the journey from the province of 
Careta to the summit of the mountain, a distance which at 
present, it is said, does not require more than six days 
travel. Indeed the isthmus in this neighbourhood is not 
more than eighteen leagues in breadth in its widest part, 
and in some places merely seven; but it consists of a 
ridge of extremely high and rugged mountains. When 
the discoverers traversed it, they had no route but the 
Indian paths, and often had to force their way amidst all 
kinds of obstacles, both from the savage country and its 
savage inhabitants. In fact, the details of this narrative 
sufficiently account for the slowness of their progress, and 
present an array of difficulties and perils, which, as has 
been well observed, none but those ^' men of iron" could 
have subdued and overcome.* 



* Vidas de Espanoles Celebres, por Don Manuel Josef Quintana. 
Tom. ii. p. 40. 



188 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 



CHAPTER X. 

Vasco JVunjsz marches to the shores of the South Sea. ■ 

Having taken possession of the Pacific Ocean and 
all its realms from the summit of the mountain, Yasco 
Nunez now descended with his little band, to seek the 
regions of reputed wealth upon its shores. He had not 
proceeded far when he came to the province of a warlike 
cacique, named Cheapes, who, issuing forth at the head 
of his warriors, looked with scorn upon the scanty num- 
ber of straggling Spaniards, and forbade them to set foot 
within his territories. Vasco Nuiiez depended for safety 
upon his power of striking terror into the ignorant sava- 
ges. Ordering his arquebusiers to the front, he poured a 
volley into the enemy, and then let loose the bloodhounds. 
The flash and noise of the fire arms, and the sulphureous 
smoke which was carried by the wind among the Indians, 
overwhelmed them with dismay. Some fell down in a 
panic as though they had been struck by thunderbolts, 
the rest betook themselves to headlong flight. 

Vasco Nunez commanded his men to refrain from need- 
less slaughter. He made many prisoners, and on arriving 
at the village, sent some of them in search of their ca- 
cique accompanied by several of his Indian guides. The 
latter informed Cheapes of the supernatural power of the 
Spaniards, assuring him that they exterminated with 
thunder and lightning all who dared to oppose them, 
but loaded all such as submitted to them with benefits. 



1513.] VASCO NtJNEZ DE BALBOA. 189 

They advised him therefore, to throw himself upon their 
mercy and seek their friendship. 

The cacique listened to their advice, and came trem- 
bling to the Spaniards, bringing with him five hundred 
pounds weight of wrought gold as a peace offering, for 
he had already learnt the value they set upon that metal. 
Vasco Nunez received him with great kindness, and gra- 
ciously accepted his gold, for which he gave him beads, 
hawks bells, and looking glasses, making him, in his own 
conceit, the richest potentate on that side of the moun- 
tains. 

Friendship being thus established between them, Vasco 
Nunez remained at the village for a few days, sending 
back the guides who had accompanied him from Quara- 
qua, and ordering his people whom he had left at that 
place to rejoin him. In the meantime he sent out three 
scouting parties of twelve men each, under Francisco 
Pizarro, Juan de Escary and Alonzo Martin de Don 
Benito, to explore the surrounding country and discover 
the best route to the sea. Alonzo Martin was the most 
successful. After two days journey, he came to a beach, 
where he found two large canoes lying high and dry, 
without any water being in sight. While the Spaniards 
were regarding these canoes, and wondering why they 
should be so far on land, the tide, which rises to a great 
height on that coast, came rapidly in and set them afloat ; 
upon this, Alonzo Martin stepped into one of them, and 
called his companions to bear witness that he was the first 
European that embarked upon that sea; his example was 
followed by one Bias de Etienza, who called them like- 
wise to testify that he was the second.* 

* Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. i. I. x. c. 2. 



190 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

We mention minute particulars of the kind, as being 
characteristic of these extraordinary enterprises, and of 
the extraordinary people who undertook them. The 
humblest of these Spanish adventurers seemed actuated 
by a swelling and ambitious spirit, that rose superior at 
times to mere sordid considerations, and aspired to share 
the glory of these great discoveries. The scouting party 
having thus explored a direct route to the sea coast, re- 
turned to report their success to their commander. 

Vasco Nunez being rejoined by his men fr^m Quarequa 
now left the greater part of his followers to repose and re- 
cover from their sickness and fatigues in the village of 
Cheapesj and, taking with him twenty-six Spaniards, well 
armed, he set out on the twenty-ninth of September, for 
the sea coast, accompanied by the cacique and a number 
of his warriors. The thick forest which covered the moun- 
tains, descended to the very margin of the sea, surround- 
ing and overshadowing the wide and beautiful bays that 
penetrated far into the land. The whole coast, as far as 
the eye could reach, was perfectly wild, the sea without 
a sail, and both seemed never to have been under the 
dominion of civilized man. 

Vasco Nuiiez arrived on the borders of one of those 
vast bays, to which he gave the name of Saint Michael, 
it being discovered on that saint's day. The tide was 
out, the water was above half a league distant, and the in- 
tervening beach was covered with mud ; he seated him- 
self, therefore, under the shade of the forest trees until 
the tide should rise. After awhile, the water came rush- 
ing in with great impetuosity, and soon reached nearly 
to the place where the Spaniards were reposing. Upon 
this Vasco Nunez rose and took a banner, on which were 
painted the Virgin and child, and under them the arms 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 191 

of Castile and Leon; then drawing his sword and throw- 
ing his buckler on his shoulder, he marched into the sea 
until the water reached above his knees, and waving his 
banner, exclaimed with a loud voice; "Long live the 
high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand and Donna 
Juanna, sovereigns of Castile, of Leon, and of Arragon, 
in whose name, and for the royal crown of Castile I take 
real, and corporal, and actual possession of these seas, 
and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the South, 
and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and 
provinces which do or may appertain to them in what- 
ever manner, or by whatever right or title, ancient or 
modern, in times past, present, or to come, without any 
contradiction; and if other prince or captain, christian 
or infidel, or of any law, sect or condition whatsoever, shall 
pretend any right to these lands and seas, I am ready and 
prepared to maintain and defend them in the name of the 
Castilian sovereigns, present and future, whose is the em- 
pire and dominion over these Indias, islands, and terra 
iirma, northern and southern, with all their seas both at 
the arctic and antarctic poles, on cither side of the equi- 
noxial line, whether within or without the tropics of Can- 
cer and Capricorn, both now and in all times, as long as 
the world endures, and until the final day of judgment 
of all mankind.'' 

This swelling declaration and defiance being uttered 
with a loud voice, and no one appearing to dispute his 
pretensions, Vasco Nunez called upon his companions to 
bear witness of the fact of his having duly taken posses- 
sion. They all declared- themselves ready to defend his 
claim to the uttermost, as became true and loyal vassals 
to the Castilian sovereigns ; and the notary having drawn 



192 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

up a document for the occasion, they all subscribed it 
with their names. 

This done, they advanced to the margin of the sea, and 
stooping down tasted its waters. When they found, that, 
though severed by intervening mountains and continents, 
they were salt like the seas of the north, they felt assured 
that they had indeed discovered an ocean, and again re- 
turned thanks to God. 

Having concluded all these ceremonies, Vasco Nunez 
drew a dagger from his girdle and cut a cross on a tree 
which grew within the water, and made two other cros- 
ses on two adjacent trees in honour of the Three Persons 
of the Trinity, and in token of possession. His followers 
likewise cut crosses on many of the trees of the adjacent 
forest, and lopped oiF branches with their swords to bear 
away as trophies.* 

Such was the singular medley of chivalrous and reli- 
gious ceremonial, with which these Spanish adventurers 
took possession of the vast Pacific Ocean, and all its 
lands — a scene strongly characteristic of the nation and 
the age. 

* Many of the foregoing particulars are from the unpublished 
volume of Oviedo's History of the Indias. 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE I5ALE0A. 193 



CHAPTER XI. 

Adventures of Vasco JVunez oji the borders of the Pacific Oceafu 

While he made the village of Chiapes his head quar- 
ters, Vasco Nuiiez foraged the adjacent country and ob- 
tained considerable quantity of gold from the natives. 
Encouraged by his success, he undertook to explore by 
sea the borders of a neighbouring gulf of great extent, 
which penetrated far into the land. The cacique Chiapes 
warned him of the danger of venturing to sea in the 
stormy season, which comprises the months of October, 
November, and December, assuring him that he had be- 
held many canoes swallowed up in the mighty waves and 
whirlpools, which at such times render the gulf almost 
u una vi gable. 

These remonstrances were unavailing: Vasco Nunez 
expressed a confident belief that God would protect him, 
seeing that his voyage was to redound to the propagation 
of the faith, and the augmentation of the power of the 
Castilian monarchs over the infidels; and in truth this 
bigoted reliance on the immediate protection of heaven 
seems to have been in a great measure the cause of the 
extravagant daring of the Spaniards in their expeditions 
in those days, whether against Moors or Indians. 

Seeing his representations of no effect, Chiapes volun- 
teered to take part in this perilous cruise, lest he should 
appear wanting in courage, or in good will to his guest. 
Accompanied by the cacique, therefore, Vasco Nunez 

25 



194 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

embarked on the 17th of October with sixty of his men 
in nine canoes, managed by Indians, leaving the re- 
sidue of his followers to recruit their health and strength 
in the village of Chiapes. 

Scarcely however had they put forth on the broad 
bosom of the gulf when the wisdom of the cacique's ad- 
vice was made apparent. The wind began to blow 
freshly, raising a heavy and tumultuous sea, which broke 
in roaring and foaming surges on the rocks and reefs, and 
among the numerous islets with which the gulf was stud- 
ded. The light canoes were deeply laden with men un- 
skilled in their management. It was frightful to those in one 
canoe to behold their companions, one instant tossed on high 
on the breaking crest of a wave, the next plunging out of 
sight, as if swallowed in a watery abyss. The Indians them- 
selves, though almost amphibious in their habits, showed 
signs of consternation ; for amidst these rocks and breakers 
even the skill of the expert swimmer would be of little 
avail. At length the Indians succeeded in tying the 
canoes in pairs, side by side, to prevent their being over- 
turned, and in this way they kept afloat, until towards 
evening they were enabled to reach a small island. Here 
they landed, and fastening the canoes to the rocks, or to 
small trees that grew upon the shore, they sought an ele- 
vated dry place, and stretched themselves to take repose. 
They had but escaped from one danger to encounter 
another. Having been for a long time accustomed to the 
sea on the northern side of the isthmus, where there is 
little, if any, rise or fall of the tide, they had neglected 
to take any precaution against such an occurrence. In 
a little while they were awakened from their sleep by the 
rapid rising of the water. They shifted their situation 
to a higher ground, but the waters continued to gain upon 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 195 

them, the breakers rushing and roaring and foaming upon 
the beach like so many monsters of the deep seeking for 
their prey. Nothing, it is said, can be more dismal and 
appalling than the sullen bellowing of the sea among the 
islands of that gulf at the rising and falling of the tide. 
By degrees, rock after rock, and one sand bank after 
another disappeared, until the sea covered the whole is- 
land, and rose almost to the girdles of the Spaniards. 
Their situation was now agonizing. A little more and 
the waters would overwhelm them : or, even as it was, 
the least surge might break over them and sweep them 
from their unsteady footing. Fortunately the wind had 
lulled, and the sea, having risen above the rocks which 
had fretted it, was calm. The tide had reached its height 
and began to subside, and after a time they heard the re- 
tiring waves beating against the rocks below them. 

When the day dawned they sought their canoes; but 
here a sad spectacle met their eyes. Some were broken 
to pieces, others yawning open in many parts. The 
clothing and food left in them had been washed away, 
and replaced by sand and water. The Spaniards gazed 
on the scene in mute despair ; they were faint and weary, 
and needed food and repose, but famine and labour 
awaited them, even if they should escape with their lives. 
Vasco Nunez, however, rallied their spirits, and set 
them an example by his own cheerful exertions. Obey- 
ing his directions, they set to work to repair, in the best 
manner they were able, the damages of the canoes. Such 
as were not too much shattered they bound and braced up 
with their girdles, with slips of the bark of trees, or with 
the tough long stalks of certain sea weeds. They then 
peeled off the bark from the small sea plants, pounded it 
between stones, and mixed it with grass, and with this en- 



196 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

deavoured to caulk the seams and stop the leaks that re- 
mained. When they re- embarked, their numbers weigh- 
ed down the canoes almost to the water's edge, and as 
they rose and sank with the swelling waves there was 
danger of their being swallowed up. All day they la- 
boured with the sea, suffering excessively from the pangs 
of hunger and thirst, and at nightfall they landed in a 
corner of the gulf, near the abode of a cacique named 
Tuinaco. Leaving a part of his men to guard the canoes, 
Vasco Nunez set out with the residue for the Indian 
town. He arrived there about midnight, but the inhabi- 
tants were on the alert to defend their habitations. 
The fire-arms and dogs soon put them to flight, and the 
Spaniards pursuing them with their swords, drove them 
howling into the woods. In the village were found pro- 
visions in abundance, beside a considerable amount of 
gold and a great quantity of pearls, many of them of a 
large size. In the house of the cacique were several 
huge shells of mother of pearl, and four pearl oysters 
quite fresh, which showed that there was a pearl fishery 
in the neighbourliood. Eager to learn the sources of this 
wealth, Vasco Nunez sent several of the Indians of Chia- 
pes in search of the cacique, who traced him to a wild 
retreat among the rocks. By their persuasions Tiimaco 
sent his son, a fine young savage, as a mediator. The 
latter returned to his father loaded with presents, and ex- 
tolling the benignity of these superhuman beings, who had 
shown themselves so terrible in battle. By these means, 
and by a mutual exchange of presents, a friendly inter- 
course was soon established. Among other things the 
cacique gave Vasco Nuiiez jewels of gold weighing six 
hundred and fourteen crowns, and two hundred pearls of 
great size and beauty, excepting that they were> some- 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 197 

what discoloured in consequence of the oysters having 
been opened by fire. 

Tlie cacique seeing the value which the Spaniards set 
upon the pearls, sent a number of his men to fish for 
them at a place about ten miles distant. Certain of the 
Indians were trained from their youth to this purpose, so 
as to become expert divers, and to acquire the power of 
remaining a long time beneath the water. The largest 
pearls are generally found in the deepest water, some- 
times in three and four fathoms, and are only sought in 
calm weather ; the smaller sort are found at the depth of 
two and three feet, and the oysters containing them are 
often driven in quantities on the beach during violent 
storms. ' 

The party of pearl divers sent by the cacique con- 
sisted of thirty Indians, with whom Vasco Nuiiez sent six 
Spaniards as eye-witnesses. The sea, however, was so 
furious, at that stormy season that the divers dared not 
venture into the deep water. Such a number of the 
shell-fish, however, had been driven on shore, that they 
collected enough to yield pearls to the value of twelve 
marks of gold. They were small, but exceedingly beau- 
tiful, being newly taken and uninjured by fire. A num- 
ber of these shell-fish and their pearls were selected to 
be sent to Spain as specimens. 

In reply to the inquiries of Vasco Nunez, the cacique 
informed him that the coast which he saw stretching to the 
west continued onwards without end, and that far to the 
south there was a country abounding in gold, where the 
inhabitants made use of certain quadrupeds to carry bur- 
thens. He moulded a figure of clay to represent these 
animals, which some of the Spaniards supposed to be a 



198 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

deer, others a camelj others a tapir, for as yet they knew 
nothing of the lama, the native beast of burthen of South 
America. This was the second intimation received by 
Vasco Nunez of the great empire of Peru ; and, while it 
confirmed all that had been told him by the son of Co- 
magre, it filled him with glowing anticipations of the 
glorious triumphs that awaited him. 



r 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 199 



CHAPTER XII. 

Farther adventures and exploits of Vasco JSIvnez on the borders of 
the Pacifc Ocean. 

Lest any ceremonial should be wanting to secure this 
grand discovery to the crown of Spain, Vasco Nunez de- 
termined to sally from the gulf and take possession of the 
main land beyond. The cacique Tumaco furnished him 
with a canoe of state, formed from the trunk of an enor- 
mous tree, and managed by a great number of Indians. 
The handles of the paddles were inlaid with small pearls, 
a circumstance which Vasco Nunez caused his com- 
panions to testify before the notary, that it might be re- 
ported to the sovereigns as a proof of the wealth of this 
newly discovered sea.* 

Departing in the canoe on the 29th of October, he was 
piloted cautiously by the Indians along the borders of the 
gulf, over drowned lands where the sea was fringed by 
inundated forests, and as still as a pool. Arrived at the 
point of the gulf, Vasco Nunez landed on a smooth sandy 
beach, laved by the waters of the broad ocean, and, with 
buckler on arm, sword in hand, and banner displayed, 
again marched into the sea and took possession of it, with 
like ceremonials to those observed in the Gulf of St. 
Michael's. 

* Oviedo, Hist. Gen, p. 2. MS. 



200 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

The Indians now pointed to a line of land rising above 
the horizon about four or five leagues distant, which they 
described as being a great island, the principal one of an 
archipelago. The whole group abounded with pearls, 
but those taken on the coasts of this island were repre- 
sented as being of immense size, many of them as large 
as a man's eye, and found in shell-fish as big as bucklers. 
This island and the surrounding cluster of small ones, 
they added, were under the dominion of a tyrannical and 
puissant cacique, who often, during the calm seasons, 
made descents upon the main land with fleets of canoes, 
plundering and desolating the coasts, and carrying the 
people into captivity. 

Vasco Nunez gazed with an eager and wistful eye 
at this land of riches, and would have immediately 
undertaken an expedition to it, had not the Indians 
represented the danger of venturing on such a voy- 
age in that tempestuous season in their frail canoes. 
His own recent experience convinced him of the wis- 
dom of their remonstrances. He postponed his visit, 
therefore, to a future occasion, when, he assured his allies, 
he would avenge them upon this tyrant invader, and de- 
liver their coasts from his maraudings. In the mean time 
he gave to this island the name of Isla Rica, and the lit- 
tle archipelago surrounding it the general appellation 
of the Pearl Islands. 

On the third of November Vasco Nunez departed 
from the province of Tumaco, to visit other parts 
of the coast. He embarked with his men in the 
canoes, accompanied by Chiapes and his Indians, and 
guided by the son of Tumaco, who had become strongly 
attached to the Spaniards. The young man piloted 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 201 

them along an arm of the sea, wide in some places, but 
in others obstructed by groves of mangrove trees, which 
grew within the water and interlaced their branches from 
shore to shore, so that at times the Spaniards were obliged 
to cut a passage with their swords. 

At length they entered a great and turbulent river, 
which they ascended with difficulty, and, early the 
next morning surprised a village on its banks, making 
the cacique Teaochan, prisoner; who purchased their 
favour and kind treatment by a quantity of gold and 
pearls, and an abundant supply of provisions. As it 
was the intention of Vasco Nunez to abandon the shores 
of the Southern Ocean at this place, and to strike across 
the mountains for Darien, he took leave of Chiapes 
and of the youthful son of Tumaco, who were to re- 
turn to their houses in the canoes. He sent at the 
same time, a message to his men, whom he had left 
in the village of Chiapes, appointing a place in the 
mountains where they were to rejoin him on his way back 
to Darien. 

The talent of Vasco Nunez for conciliating and 
winning the good will of the savages is often men- 
tioned, and to such a degree had he exerted it in 
the present instance, that the two chieftains shed tears 
at parting. Their conduct had a favourable effect 
upon the cacique Teaochan ; he entertained Vasco 
Nunez with the most devoted hospitality during three 
days that he remained in his village; when about 
to depart he furnished him with a stock of provisions 
sufficient for several days, as his route would lay 
over rocky and sterile mountains. He sent also a 
numerous band of his subjects to carry the burthens of 

26 



202 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [151^. 

the Spaniards. These he placed under the command 
of liis son, whom he ordered never to separate from the 
Strangers, nor to permit any of his men to return with- 
out the consent of Vasco Nunez, 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE UALBOA. 203 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Vasco JVunez sets old on his return across the mountains — His 

contests with the Savages. 

Turning their backs upon the Southern Sea, the 
Spaniards now began painfully to clamber the rugged 
mountains on their return to Darien. 

In the early part of their route an unlooked-for suffer- 
ing awaited them : there was neither brook nor fountain 
nor standing pool. The burning heat, which produced 
intolerable thirst, had dried up all the mountain torrents, 
and they were tantalized by the sight of naked and dusty 
channels where water had once flowed in abundance. 
Their sufferings at length increased to such a height that 
many threw themselves fevered and panting upon the 
earth, and were ready to give up the ghost. The In- 
dians, however, encouraged them to proceed, by hopes 
of speedy relief, and after a while, turning aside from the 
direct course, led them into a deep and narrow glen, re- 
freshed and cooled by a fountain which bubbled out of a 
cleft of the rocks. 

While refreshing themselves at the fountain, and re- 
posing in the little valley, they learnt from their guides 
that they were in the territories of a powerful chief 
named Poncra, famous for his riches. The Spaniards had 
already heard of the golden stores of this Croesus of the 
mountains, and being now refreshed and invigorated, 
pressed forward with eagerness for his village. 



304 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

The cacique and most of his people fled at their ap- 
proach, but they found an earnest of his wealtli in the 
deserted houses, amounting to the value of three thousand 
crowns in gold. Their avarice thus whetted, they des- 
patched Indians in search of Poncra, who found him 
trembling in his secret retreat, and partly by threats, 
partly by promises, prevailed upon him and three of his 
principal subjects to come to Vasco Nunez. He was a 
savage, it is said, so hateful of aspect, so misshapen in 
body and deformed in all his members, that he was hide- 
ous to behold. The Spaniards endeavoured by gentle 
means to draw from him information of the places from 
whence he had procured his gold. He professed utter 
ignorance in the matter, declaring that the gold found in 
his village had been gathered by his predecessors in times 
long past, and that as he himself set no value on the metal, 
he had never troubled himself to seek it. The Span- 
iards resorted to menaces, and even, it is said, to tortures, 
to compel him to betray his reputed treasures, but with 
no better success. Disappointed in their expectations, 
and enraged at his supposed obstinacy, they listened too 
readily to charges advanced against him by certain ca- 
ciques of the neighbourhood, who represented him as a 
monster of cruelty, and as guilty of crimes repugnant to 
nature;* whereupon, in the heat of the moment, they 
gave him and his three companions, who were said to be 
equally guilty, to be torn in pieces by the dogs. — A rash 
and cruel sentence, given on the evidence of avowed 
enemies ; and which, however it may be palliated by the 
alleged horror and disgust of the Spaniards at the im- 
puted crimes of the cacique, bears too much the stamp 

* P. Martyr, d. iii. c. 2. 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 205 

of haste and passion, and remains a fonl blot on the cha- 
racter of Vasco Nunez. 

The Spaniards remained for thirty days reposing in 
the village of the unfortunate Poncra, during which time 
they were rejoined by their companions, who had been 
left behind at the village of Chiapes. They were ac- 
companied by a cacique of the mountains, who had lodged 
and fed them, and made them presents of the value of two 
thousand crowns in gold. This hospitable savage ap- 
proached Vasco Nunez with a serene countenance, and 
taking him by the hand, ^^ Behold," said he, "most va- 
liant and powerful chief, I bring thee thy companions safe 
and well, as they entered under my roof. May he who 
made the thunder and lightning, and who gives us the 
fruits of the earth, preserve thee and thine in safety!" 
So saying, he raised his eyes to the sun, as if he wor- 
shipped that as his deity and the dispenser of all temporal 
blessings.* 

Departing from this village, and being still accom- 
panied by the Indians of Teaochan, the Spaniards now 
bent their course along the banks of the river Comagre, 
which descends the northern side of the Isthmus, and 
flows through the territories of the cacique of the same 
name. This wild stream, which in the course of ages had 
worn a channel through the deep clefts and ravines of the 
mountains, was bordered by precipices, or overhung by 
shagged forests: they soon abandoned it, therefore, and 
wandered on without any path, but guided by the In- 
dians. They had to climb terrible precipices, and to 
descend into deep valleys, darkened by thick forests and 

* Herrcra, d. i. 1. x. c. 4. 



206 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

beset by treacherous morasses, where, but for their 
guides, they might have been smothered in the mire. 

In the course of this rugged journey they suffered ex- 
cessively in consequence of their own avarice. They 
had been warned of the sterility of the country they were 
about to traverse, and of the necessity of providing 
amply for the journey. When they came to lade the 
Indians, however, who bore their burdens, their only 
thought was how to convey the most treasure ; and they 
grudged even a slender supply of provisions, as taking up 
the place of an equal weight of gold. The consequences 
were soon felt. The Indians could carry but small bur- 
thens, and at the same time assisted to consume the 
scanty stock of food which formed part of their load. 
Scarcity and famine ensued, and relief was rarely to be 
procured, for the villages on this elevated part of the 
mountains were scattered and poor, and nearly destitute 
of provisions. They held no communication with each 
other; each contenting itself with the scanty produce of 
its own fields and forest. Some were entirely deserted; 
at other places, the inhabitants, forced from their re- 
treats, implored pardon, and declared they had hidden 
themselves through shame, not having the means of pro- 
perly entertaining such celestial visitors. They brought 
peace-offerings of gold, but no provisions. For once the 
Spaniards found that even their darling gold could fail to 
cheer their drooping spirits. Their sufferings from hun- 
ger became intense, and many of their Indian companions 
sank down and perished by the way. At length they 
reached a village where they were enabled to obtain sup- 
plies, and where they remained thirty days, to recruit 
their wasted strength. 



1513,] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 207 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Enterprise against. Tubanama, the -warlike Cacique of the Moun- 
tains. — Return to Darie?i. 



The Spaniards had now to pass through the territories 
of Tubanama, the most potent and warlike cacique of the 
mountains. This was the same chieftain of whom a for- 
midable character had been given by the young Indian 
prince, who first informed Vasco Nunez of the southern 
sea. He had erroneously repi^esented the dominions of 
Tubanama as lying beyond the mountains : and when he 
dwelt upon the quantities of gold to be found in them^^ 
had magnified the dangers that would attend any attempt 
to pass their borders. The name of this redoubtable 
cacique was in fact a terror throughout the country; and 
when Vasco Nunez looked round upon his handful of pale 
and emaciated followers, he doubted whether even the 
superiority of their weapons, and their military skill, 
would enable them to cope with Tubanama and his armies 
in open contest. He resolved, therefore, to venture upon 
a perilous stratagem. When he made it known to his 
men, every one pressed forward to engage in it. Choosing 
seventy of the most vigorous, he ordered the rest to main- 
tain their post in the village. 

As soon as night had fallen he departed silently and 
secretly with his chosen band, and made his way with 
such rapidity through the labyrinths of the forests and the 
defiles of the mountains, that he arrived in the neigh- 



208 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

bourhood of the residence of Tubanama by the following 
evening, though at the distance of two regular days' 
journey. 

There waiting until midnight he assailed the village 
suddenly, and with success, so as to surprise and capture 
the cacique and his whole family, in which wxre eighty 
females. When Tubanama found himself a prisoner in 
the hands of the Spaniards, he lost all presence of mind, 
and wept bitterly. The Indian allies of Vasco Nunez 
beholding their once dreaded enemy thus fallen and cap- 
tive, now urged that he should be put to death, accusing 
him of various crimes and cruelties. Vasco Nufiez pre- 
tended to listen to their prayers, and gave orders that his 
captive should be tied hand and foot, and given to the 
dogs. The cacique approached him trembling, and laid 
his hand upon the pommel of his sword. ^'^Who can 
pretend/' said he, ^'to strive with one who bears this 
weapon, which can cleave a man asunder with a blow? 
Ever since thy fame has reached among these mountains 
have I reverenced thy valour. Spare my life, and thou 
shalt have all the gold I can procure." 

Vasco Nunez, whose anger was assumed, was readily 
pacified. As soon as the day dawned, the cacique gave 
him armlets and other jewels of gold to the value of three 
thousand crowns, and sent messengers throughout his do- 
minions ordering his subjects to aid in paying his ransom. 
The poor Indians, with their accustomed loyalty hasten- 
ed in crowds, bringing their golden ornaments, until in 
the course of three days they had produced an amount 
equal to six thousand crowns. This done, Vasco Nunez 
set the cacique at liberty, bestowing on him several 
European trinkets, with which he considered himself 
richer than he had been with all his gold. Nothing 



1513.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 209 

would draw from him, however, the disclosure of the 
mines from whence this treasure was procured. He de- 
clared that it came from the territories of his neighbours, 
where gold and pearls were to be found in abundance ; 
but that his lands produced nothing of the kind. Vasco 
Nunez doubted his sincerity, and secretly caused the 
brooks and rivers in his dominions to be searched, where 
gold was found in such quantities that he determined, at 
a future time, to found two settlements in the neighbour- 
hood. 

On parting with Tubanama, the cacique sent his son 
with the Spaniards to learn their language and religion. 
It is said, also, that the Spaniards carried off his eighty 
women ; but of this particular fact Oviedo, who writes 
with the papers of Vasco Nuilez before him, says nothing. 
He affirms, generally, however, that the Spaniards, 
throughout this expedition, were not scrupulous in their 
dealings with the wives and daughters of the Indians; 
and adds, that in this their commander set them the 
example.* 

Having returned to the village where he had left the 
greater part of his men, Vasco Nunez resumed his home- 
ward march. His people were feeble and exhausted, 
and several of them sick : so that some had to be carried 
and others led by the arms. He himself was part of the 
time afflicted by a fever, and had to be borne in a ham- 
mock on the shoulders of the Indians. 

Proceeding thus slowly and toilfully, they at length 
arrived on the northern sea coast, at the territories of 
their ally, Comagre. The old cacique was dead, and had 
been succeeded by his son, the same intelligent youth who 

* Oviedo, Hist. Gen. Part II. c. 4. MS. 
27 



210 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

had first given information of the southern sea and the 
k'ngdom of Peru. The young chiefs who had embraced 
Christianity, received them with great hospitality, mak- 
ing .them presents of gold. Vasco Nunez gave him trin- 
kets in return, and a shirt and a soldier's cloak ; with 
which, says Peter Martyr, he thought himself half a god 
among his naked countrymen. After having reposed for 
a few days, Vasco Nunez proceeded to Ponca, where he 
heard that a ship and caravel had arrrived at Darien from 
Hispaniola, with reinforcements and supplies. Hastening, 
therefore, to Coyba, the territories of his ally, Careta, he 
embarked on the 18th of January, 1514, with twenty of 
his men, in the brigantine which he had left there, and 
arrived at Santa Maria de la Antigua, in the river of ' 
Darien, on the following day. All the inhabitants came 
forth to receive him; and when they heard the news of 
the great southern sea, and of his returning from its 
shores laden with pearls and gold, there were no bounds 
to their joy. He immediately despatched the ship and 
caravel to Coyba for the companions he had left behind, 
who brought with them the remaining booty, consisting 
of gold and pearls, mantles, hammocks, and other articles 
of cotton, and a great number of captives of. both sexes. 
A fifth of the spoil was set apart for the crown ; the rest 
was shared, in just proportions, among those who had 
been in the expedition, and those who had remained at 
Darien. All were contented with their allotment, and 
elated with the prospect of still greater gain from future 
enterprises. 

Thus ended one of the most remarkable expeditions of 
the early discoverers. The intrepidity of Vasco Nunez 
in penetrating, with a handful of men, far into the inte- 
rior of a wild and mountainous country, peopled by war- 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 211 

like tribes : his skill in managing his band of rough ad- 
venturers, stimulating their valour, enforcing their obe- 
dience, and attaching their affections, show him to have 
possessed great qualities as a general. We are told that 
he was always foremost in peril, and the last to quit the 
field. He shared the toils and dangers of the meanest of 
his followers, treating them with frank affability ; watch- 
ing, fighting, fasting, and labouring with them ; visiting 
and consoling such as were sick or infirm, and dividing 
all his gains with fairness and liberality. He was charge- 
able at times with acts of bloodshed and injustice, but it 
is probable that these were often called for as measures of 
safety and precaution ; he certainly offended less against 
humanity than most of the early discoverers; and the 
unbounded amity and confidence reposed in him by the 
natives, when they became intimately acquainted with 
his character, speak strongly in favour of his kind treat- 
ment of them. 

The character of Vasco Nunez had, in fact, risen with 
his circumstances, and now assumed a nobleness and 
grandeur from the discovery he had made, and the im- 
portant charge it had devolved upon him. He no longer 
felt himself a mere soldier of fortune, at the head of a 
band of adventurers, but a great commander conducting 
an immortal enterprise. " Behold," says old Peter Mar- 
tyr, " Vasco Nunez de Balboa, at once transformed from 
a rash royster to a politic and discreet captain:" and thus 
it is that men are often made by their fortunes ; that is to 
say, their latent qualities are brought out, and shaped 
and strengthened by events, and by the necessity of every 
exertion to cope with the greatness of their destiny. 



212 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Transactions in Spai?i. Pedrarias Davila appointed to the com- 
mand of Darien. Tidings received in Spain of the discovery of 
the Pacific Ocean. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa now flattered himself that he 
had made a discovery calculated to silence all his enemies 
at court, and to elevate him to the highest favour with 
his sovereign. He wrote letters to the king, giving a 
detail of his expedition, and setting forth all that he had 
seen or heard of this Southern Sea, and of the rich 
countries upon its borders. Beside the royal fifths of the 
profits of the expedition, he prepared a present for the 
sovereign, in the name of himself and his companions, 
consisting of the largest and most precious pearls they 
had collected. As a trusty and intelligent envoy to bear 
these tidings, he chose Pedro de Arbolancha, an old and 
tried friend, who had accompanied him in his toils and 
dangers, and was well acquainted with all his trans- 
actions. 

The fate of Vasco Nunez furnishes a striking instance 
how prosperity and adversity, how even life and death 
hang balanced upon a point of time, and are affected by 
the improvement or neglect of moments. Unfortunately, 
the ship which was to convey the messenger to Spain 
lingered in port until the beginning of March ; a delay 
which had a fatal influence on the fortunes of Vasco 
Nunez. It is necessary Jiere to cast an eye back upon 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 213 

the events which had taken place in Spain while he was 
employed in his conquests and discoveries. 

The Bachelor Enciso had arrived in Castile full of his 
wrongs and indignities. He had friends at courts who aid- 
ed him in gaining a ready hearing, and he lost not a mo- 
ment in availing himself of it. He declaimed eloquently 
upon the alleged usurpation of Vasco Nuilez, and represent- 
ed him as governing the colony by force and fraud. It was 
in vain that the Alcalde Zamudio, the ancient colleague 
and the envoy of Vasco Nunez, attempted to speak in his 
defence ; he was unable to cope with the facts and argu- 
ments of the Bachelor, who was a pleader by profession, 
and now pleaded his own cause. The king determined 
to send a new governor to Darien, with power to inquire, 
into and remedy all abuses. For this office he chose Don 
Pedro Arias Davila, commonly called Pedrarias.* He 
was a native of Segovia, who had been brought up in the 
royal household, and had distinguished himself as a brave 
soldier, both in the war in Granada and at the taking of 
Oran and Bugia in Africa. He possessed those personal 
accomplishments which captivate the soldiery, and was 
called el Golan, for his gallant array and courtly demean- 
our, and el Justador, or the Tiller, for his dexterity in 
jousts and tournaments. These, it must be admitted, were 
not the qualifications most adapted for the government 
of rude and factious colonies in a wilderness; but he had 
an all-powerful friend in the Bishop Fonseca. The 
Bishop was as thoroughgoing in patronage as in persecu- 
tion. He assured the king that Pedrarias had under- 
standing equal to his valour ; that he was as capable of 
managing the affairs of peace as of war, and that, having 

* By the English historians he has generally been called Davila. 



214 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

been brought up in the royal household, his loyalty might 
be implicitly relied on. 

Scarcely had Don Pedrarias been appointed, when 
Cayzedo and Colmenares arrived on their mission from 
Darien, to communicate the intelligence received from 
the son of the cacique Comagre, of the Southern Sea be- 
yond the mountains, and to ask one thousand men to 
enable Vasco Nunez to make the discovery. 

The avarice and ambition of Ferdinand were inflamed 
by the tidings. He rewarded the bearers of the intelli- 
gence, and, after consulting with Bishop Fonseca, re- 
solved to despatch immediately a powerful armada, with 
twelve hundred men, under the command of Pedrarias, 
to accomplish the enterprise. 

Just about this time the famous Gonsalvo Hernandez de 
Cordova, commonly called the Great Captain, was prepar- 
ing to return to Naples, where the allies of Spain had ex- 
perienced a signal defeat, and had craved the assistance 
of this renowned general to retrieve their fortunes. The 
chivalry of Spain thronged to enlist under the banner of 
Gonsalvo. The Spanish nobles, with their accustomed 
prodigality, sold or mortgaged their estates to buy gor- 
geous armour, silks, brocades, and other articles of mar- 
tial pomp and luxury, that they might figure, with be- 
coming magnificence, in the campaigns of Italy. The 
armament was on the point of sailing for Naples with this 
host of proud and gallant spirits, when the jealous mind 
of Ferdinand took oifence at the enthusiasm thus shown 
towards his general, and he abruptly countermanded the 
expedition. The Spanish cavaliers were overwhelmed 
with disappointment at having their dreams of glory thus 
suddenly dispelled ; when, as if to console them, the en- 
terprise of Pedrarias was set on foot, and opened a diff'er- 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 215 

ent career of adventure. The very idea of an unknown 
sea and splendid empire, where never European ship had 
sailed or foot had trodden, broke upon the imagination 
with the vague wonders of an Arabian tale. Even the 
countries already known, in the vicinity of the settlement 
of Darien, were described in the usual terms of exagge- 
ration. Gold was said to lie on the surface of the 
ground, or to be gathered with nets out of the brooks and 
rivers ; insomuch that the region hitherto called Terra 
Firma, now received the pompous and delusive appella- 
tion of Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. 

Excited by these reports, many of the youthful cava- 
liers, who had prepared for the Italian campaign, now 
offered themselves as volunteers to Don Pedrarias. He 
accepted their services, and appointed Seville as the 
place of assemblage. The streets of that ancient city soon 
swarmed with young and noble cavaliers splendidly 
arrayed, full of spirits, and eager for the sailing of the 
Indian armada. Pedrarias, on his arrival at Seville, 
made a general review of his forces, and was embar- 
rassed to find that the number amounted to three thou- 
sand. He had been limited in his first armament to 
twelve hundred ; on representing the nature of the case, 
however, the number was extended to fifteen hundred ; 
but through influence, entreaty and stratagem, upwards 
of two thousand eventually embarked.* Happy did he 
think himself who could in any manner, and by any 
means, get admitted on board of the squadron. Nor was 
this eagerness for the enterprise confined merely to young 
and buoyant and ambitious adventurers ; we are told that 
there were many covetous old men, who oiTered to go at 

* Oviedo, 1. ii. c. 7. MS. 



216 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

their own expense, without seeking any pay from the 
king. Thus every eye was turned with desire to this 
squadron of modern Argonauts, as it lay anchored on the 
hosom of the Guadalquiver. 

The pay and appointments of Don Pedrarias Davila 
were on the most liberal scale, and no expense was spared 
in fitting out the armament; for the object of the expedi- 
tion were both colonization and conquest. Artillery and 
powder were procured from Malaga. Beside the usual 
weapons, such as muskets, crossbows, swords, pikes, lan- 
ces and Neapolitan targets, there w.as armour devised of 
(juiltcd cotton, as being light and better adapted to the 
climate, and sufficiently proof against the weapons of the 
Indians; and wooden bucklers from the Canary islands, 
to ward oH" the poisoned arrows of the Caribs. 

Santa Maria dc la Antigua was, by royal ordinance, 
elevated into the metropolitan city of Golden Castile, and 
a Franciscan friar, named Juan de Quevedo was appoint- 
ed as bishop, with powers to decide in all cases of con- 
science. A «niml)er of friars were nominated to accom- 
pany him, and he was provided with the necessary fur- 
niture and vessels for a chapel. 

Among the various regulations made for the good of 
the infant colony, it was ordained that no lawyers shoidd 
be admitted there, it having been found atHispaniola and 
elsewhere, that they were detrimental to the welfare of 
the settlements, by fomenting disputes and litigations. 
The judicial affairs were to be entirely confided to the 
Licentiate Caspar de Espinosa, who was to ofliciate as 
Alcalde Mayor or chief judge. 

Don Pedrarias had intended to leave his wife in Spain. 
Her name was Dofla Isabella de ftobadilla; she was niece 
to the Marchioness de Moya, a great favourite of the late 



lol4.] >ASCO NUNEZ DE UAi.hOA. 217 

Queen Isabella, who had been instrumental in persuading 
her royal mistress to patronize Columbus.* Her niece 
partook of her high and generous nature. She refused 
to remain behind in selfish security, but declared that she 
would accompany her husband in every peril, whether 
by sea or land. This self-devotion is the more remarkable 
when it is considered that she was past the romantic 
period of youth; and that she had a family of four sons 
and four daughters, whom she left behind her in Spain. 

Don Pedrarias was instructed to tisc great indulgctice 
towards the people of Darien, who had been the foUow- 
ei-s of Nicuesa, and to remit the royal tithe of all the gold 
they might have collected ])rcvious to his arrival. Towards 
Vasco Nunez de Balboa alone the royal countenance was 
stern and severe. Pedrarias was to depose him from his 
assumed authority, and to call him to strict account before 
the Alcalde Mayor. Gaspar de Es])inosa, for his treatment 
of the Raclu lor Enciso. 

The splendid fleet, consisting of fifteen sail, weighed 
anchor at St. Lucar on the 12th of April, 1514, and 
swept proudly out of (he lluadalquiver, thronged with 
the chivalrous adventurers for (loUlen Castile. Rut a short 
time had elapsed after its de])arture. when l*edro Arbo- 
lancho arrived with the tardy missions of Vasco NuHez. 
Had he arrived a few days sooner, how diflerent nnght 
have been the fortunes of his friend! 

He was immediately admitted to the royal ])resence. 
where he announced the adventurous and successful ex- 
pedition of Va:sco NnHez. and laid before the king the 

* Tins was \\\v same Marchioness de Moya, wlio diirini^ llie war 
of Granada, while the eoiirt and royal army were eneamped hefore 
Malaga, was mistaken for the tjiieen by a Moorish fanatie, and had 
nearly fallen beneath his dap^j^er. 

28 



218 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

pearls and golden ornaments which he had brought as the 
first fruits of the discovery. King Ferdinand listened 
with charmed attention to this tale of unknown seas and 
wealthy realms added to his empire. ' It filled; in fact, 
the imaginations of the most sage and learned with golden 
dreamsj and anticipations of unbounded riches. Old 
Peter Martyr, who received letters from his friends in 
Darien, and communicated by word of mouth with those 
who came from thence, writes to Leo the Tenth in ex- 
ulting terms of this event. " Spain,'' says he, " will 
hereafter be able to satisfy with pearls the greedy appe- 
tite of such as in wanton pleasures are like unto Cleopatra 
and ^sopus ; so that henceforth we shall neither envy 
nor reverence the nice fruitfulness of Trapoban or the 
Red Sea. The Spaniards will not need hereafter to 
mine and dig far into the earth, nor to cut asunder 
mountains in quest of gold, but will find it plentifully, in 
a manner, on the upper crust of the earth, or in the sands 
of rivers dried up by the heats of summer. Certainly the 
reverend antiquity obtained not so great a benefit of na- 
ture, nor even asj ired to the knowledge thereof, since 
never man before, from the known world, penetrated to 
these unknown regions."* 

The tidings of this discovery at once made all Spain re- 
sound with the praises of Vasco Nunez ; and, from being 
considered a lawless and desperate adventurer, he was 
lauded to the skies as a worthy successor to Columbus. 
The king repented of the harshness of his late measures 
towards him, and ordered the Bishop Fonseca to devise 
some mode of rewarding his transcendent services. 

* P. Martyr, decad. 3, chap. iii. Lok's translation. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 219 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Arrival and grand Entry of Do?i Pedrarias Davila 'uilo Darien. 

While honours and rewards were preparing in Europe 
for Vasco Nuflez, that indefatigable commander^ inspired 
by his fortunes with redoubled zeal and loftier ambition, 
was exercising the paternal forethought and discretion of 
a patriotic governor over the country subjected to his 
rule. His most strenuous exertions were directed to bring 
the neighbourhood of Darien into such a state of cultiva- 
tion as might render the settlement independent of Eu- 
rope for supplies. The town was situated on the banks 
of a river, and contained upwards of two hundred houses 
and cabins. Its population amounted to five hundred and 
fifteen Europeans, all men, and fifteen hundred Indians, 
male and female. Orchards and gardens had been laid 
out, where European as well as native fruits and veget- 
ables were cultivated, and already gave promise of future 
abundance. Vasco Nuflez devised all kinds of means to 
keep up the spirits of his people. On holidays they had 
their favourite national sports and games, and particularly 
tilting matches, of which chivalious amusement the Spa- 
niards in those days were extravagantly fond. Sometimes 
he gratified their restless and roving habits by sending 
them in expeditions to various parts of the country, to 
acquire a knowledge of its resources, and to strengthen 
his sway over the natives. He was so successful in se- 
curing the amity or exciting the awe of the Indian tribes, 



220 SPANISH VOYAGES OP DISCOVERY. [1514. 

that a Spaniard might go singly about the land in perfect 
safety ; while his own followers were zealous in their devo- 
tion to him^ both from admiration of his past exploits and 
from hopes of soon being led by him to new discoveries 
and conquests. Peter Martyr, in his letter to Leo the 
Tenth, speaks in high terms of these " old soldiers of 
Darien," the remnants of those well-tried adventurers 
who had followed the fortunes of Ojeda, Nicuesa, and 
Vasco Nunez. "They were hardened," says he, ^Ho 
abide all sorrows, and were exceedingly tolerant of la- 
bour, heat, hunger, and watching, insomuch that they 
merrily make their boast that they have observed a lon- 
ger and sharper Lent than ever your Holiness enjoined, 
since, for the space of four years, their food has been 
herbs and fruits, with now and then fish, and very seldom 
flesh."* 

Such were the hardy and well seasoned veterans that 
were under the sway of Vasco Nunez; and the colony 
gave signs of rising in prosperity under his active and 
fostering management, when in the month of June, the 
fleet of Don Pedrarias Davila arrived in the Gulf of 
Uraba. 

The Spanish cavaliers who accompanied the new go- 
vernor were eager to get on shore, and to behold the an- 
ticipated wonders of the land; but Pedrarias, knowing 
the resolute character of Vasco Nunez, and the devotion 
of his followers, apprehended some difiiculty in getting 
possession of the colony. Anchoring, therefore, about a 
league and a half from the settlement, he sent a messen- 
ger on shore to announce his arrival. The envoy, having 
heard so much in Spain of the prowess and exploits of 

* P. Marlyr, decad 5. c. iii, I.ok's translation. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 221 

Vasco Nunez and the riches of Golden Castile, expected, 
no doubt, to find a blustering warrior, maintaining bar- 
baric state in the government which he had usurped. 
Great was his astonishment therefore to find this redoubt- 
able hero a plain unassuming man, clad in a cotton frock 
and drawers, and hempen sandals, directing and aiding 
the labour of several Indians who were thatching a cot- 
tage in which he resided. 

The messenger approached him respectfully, and an- 
nounced the arrival of Don Pedrarias Davila as governor 
of the country. 

Whatever Vasco Nuiiez may have felt at this intelli- 
gence,, he suppressed his emotions, and answered the 
messenger with great discretion ; ^^ Tell Don Pedrarias 
Davila," said he, "that he is welcome, that I congratu- 
late him on his safe arrival, and am ready, with all who 
are here, to obey his orders.'' 

The little community of rough and daring adventurers 
was immediately in an uproar when they found a new 
governor had arrived. Some of the most zealous adhe- 
rents of Vasco Nunez were disposed to sally forth, sword 
in hand, and repel the intruder ; but they were restrained 
by their more considerate chieftain, who prepared to re- 
ceive the new governor with all due submission. 

Pedrarias disembarked on the thirtietli of June, ac- 
companied by his heroic wife. Dona Isabella; who, ac- 
cording to old Peter Martyr, had sustained the roarings 
and rages of the ocean with no less stout courage than 
either her husband or even the mariners who had lieen 
brought up among the surges of the sea. 

Pedrarias set out for the embryo city at the head of 
two thousand men, all well armed. He led his wife by 
the hand, and on the other side of him was the bishop of 



222 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

Darien in his robes; while a brilliant train of youthful 
cavaliers, in glittering armour and brocade, formed a kind 
of body guard. 

All this pomp and splendour formed a striking contrast 
with the humble state of Vasco Nunez, who came foVth 
unarmed, in simple attire, accompanied by his council- 
lors and a handful of the "old soldiers of Darien," scarred 
and battered, and grown half wild in Indian warfare, but 
without weapons, and in garments much the worse for 
wear. 

Vasco Nunez saluted Don Pedrarias Davila with pro- 
found reverence, and promised him implicit obedience, 
both in his own name and in the name of the community. 
Having entered the town, he conducted his distinguished 
guests to his straw-thatched habitation, where he had 
caused a repast to be prepared of such cheer as his means 
afforded, consisting of roots and fruits, maize and casava 
bread, with no other beverage than water from the river ; a 
sorry palace and a meagre banquet in the eyes of the gay 
cavaliers, who had anticipated far other things from the 
usurper of Golden Castile. Vasco Nuilez, however, ac- 
quitted himself in his humble wigwam with the courtesy 
and hospitality of a prince, and showed that the dignity 
of an entertainment depends more upon the giver than 
the feast. In the mean time a plentiful supply of Euro- 
pean provisions was landed from the fleet, and a tempo- 
rary abundance was diffused through the colony. 



1514.] YASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 223 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Perfidious conduct of Don Pedrarias towards Vasco Nunet, 

On the day after his entrance into Darien^ Don Pedra- 
rias held a private conference with Vasco Nunez in pre- 
sence of the historian Oviedo, who had come out from 
Spain as the public notary of the colony. The gover- 
nor commenced by assuring him that he was instructed 
by the king to treat him with great favour and distinc- 
tion, to consult him about the affairs of the colony, and 
to apply to him for information relative to the surround- 
ing country. At the same time he professed the most 
amicable feelings on his own part, and an intention to be 
guided by his counsels in all public measures. 

Vasco Nunez was of a frank confiding nature, and 
was so captivated by this unexpected courtesy and kind- 
ness, that he tb.rew off all caution and reserve, and 
opened his whole soul to the politic courtier. Pedrarias 
availed himself of this communicative mood to draw from 
him a minute and able statement in writing, detailing the 
circumstances- of the colony, and the information collected 
respecting various parts of the country; the route by 
which he had traversed the mountains ; his discovery of 
the South Sea; the situation and reputed wealth of the 
Pearl Islands ; the rivers and ravines most productive of 
gold ; together with the names and territories of the va- 
rious caciques with whom he had made treaties. 



224 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

When Pedrarias had thus beguiled the unsuspecting 
soldier of all the information necessary for his purposes, 
he dropped the mask, and within a few days proclaimed 
a judicial scrutiny into the conduct of Vasco Nunez and 
his officers. It was to be conducted by the Licentiate 
Gaspar de Espinosa, who had come out as Alcalde Mayor, 
or chief judge. The Licentiate was an inexperienced 
lawyer, having but recently left the university of Sala- 
manca. He appears to have been somewhat flexible in 
his opinions, and prone to be guided or governed by 
others. At the outset of his career he was much under 
the influence of Quevedo, the Bishop of Darien. Now, 
as Vasco Nunez knew the importance of this prelate in- 
the colony, he had taken care to secure him to his inter- 
ests by paying him the most profound deference and res- 
pect, and by giving him a share in his agricultural enter- 
prises and his schemes of traffic. In fact, the good bishop 
looked upon him as one eminently calculated to promote 
his temporal prosperity, to which he was by no means in- 
sensible. Under the influence of the prelate, therefore, 
the Alcalde commenced his investigation in the most fa- 
vourable manner. He went largely into an examination 
of the discoveries of Vasco Nunez, and of the nature and 
extent of his various services. The governor was alarmed 
at the course which the inqury was taking. If thus con- 
ducted, it would but serve to illustrate the merits and 
elevate the reputation of the man whom it was his in- 
terest and intent to ruin. To counteract it he imme- 
diately set on foot a secret and invidious course of inter- 
rogatories of the followers of Nicuesa and Ojeda, to draw 
from them testimony which might support the charge 
against Vasco Nunez of usurpation and tyrannical abuse 
of power. The bishop and the Alcalde received infor- 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 225 

mation of this inquisition, carried on thus secretly, and 
without their sanction. They remonstrated warmly 
against it, as an infringement of their rights, being coad- 
jutors in the government ; and they spurned the testimony 
of the followers of Ojeda and Nicuesa, as being dictated 
and discoloured by ancient enmity. Vasco Nuiiez was 
therefore acquitted by them of the criminal charges 
made against him, though he remained involved in diffi- 
culties from the suits brought against him by individuals, 
for losses and damages occasioned by his measures. 

Pedrarias was incensed at this acquittal, and insisted 
upon the guilt of Vasco Nunez, which he pretended to 
have established to his conviction by his secret investiga- 
tions ; and he even determined to send him in chains to 
Spain, to be tried for the death of Nicuesa, and for other 
imputed offences. 

It was not the inclination or the interest of the bishop 
that Vasco Nunez should leave the colony; he therefore 
managed to awaken the jealous apprehensions of the go- 
vernor as to the effect of his proposed measure. He in- 
timated that the arrival of Vasco Nunez in Spain would 
be signalized by triumph rather than disgrace. By that 
time his grand discoveries would be blazoned to the 
world, and would atone for all his faults. He would be 
received with enthusiasm by the nation, with favour by 
the king, and would probably be sent back to the colony 
clothed with new dignity and power. 

Pedrarias was placed in a perplexing dilemma by these 
suggestions ; his violent proceedings against Vasco Nunez 
were also in some measure restrained by the influence of 
his wife. Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, who felt a great re- 
spect and sympathy for the discoverer. In his per- 
plexity, the wily governor adopted a middle course. He 

29 



226 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

resolved to detain Vasco Nuficz at Darien under a cloud 
of imputation, which would gradually impair his popu- 
larity ; while his patience and means would be silently 
consumed by protracted and expensive litigation. In the 
meantime, however, the property which had been se- 
questrated was restored to him. 

While Pedrarias treated Vasco Nunez with this seve- 
rity, he failed not to avail himself of the plans of that able 
commander. The first of these was to establish a line of 
posts across the mountains between Darien and the South 
Sea. It was his eager desire to execute this before any 
order should arrive from the king in favour of his prede- 
cessor, in order that he might have the credit of having 
colonized the coast, and Vasco Nuflez, merely that of 
having discovered and visited it.* Before he could 
complete these arrangements, however, unlooked-for ca- 
lamities fell upon the settlement, that for a time inter- 
rupted every project, and made every one turn his 
thoughts merely to his own security. 

* Ovicdo, Hist. Ind. p. 2. c. 8. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DK BALBOA. 227 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Calamities of the Spanish Cavaliers at Darien. 

The town of Darien was situated in a deep valley sur- 
rounded by lofty hills, which, while they kept off the 
breezes so grateful in a sultry climate, reflected and con- 
centrated the rays of the sun, insomuch, that at noontide 
the heat was insupportable; the river which passed it 
was shallow, with a muddy channel and bordered by 
marshes; overhanging forests added to the general humi- 
dity, and the very soil on which the town was built was 
of such a nature, that on digging to the depth of a foot 
there would ooze forth brackish water.* 

It is not matter of surprise that a situation of this kind, 
in a tropical climate, should be fatal to the health of 
Europeans. Many of those who had recently arrived 
were swept off speedily ; Pedrarias himself fell sick and 
was removed, with most of his people, to a healthier spot 
on the river Corol)ari ; the malady, however, continued 
to increase. The provisions which had been brought out 
in the ships had been partly damaged by the sea, the re- 
sidue grew scanty, and the people were put upon short 
allowance; the debility thus ])roduced increased the 
ravages of disease; at length the provisions were ex- 
hausted and the horrors of absolute famine ensued. 

* P. Mai-lyr, dccad .3. c. vi. 



■■h0 



228 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

Every one was more or less affected by these calami- 
ties; even the veterans of the colony quailed beneath 
them; but to none were they more fatal than to the 
crowd of youthful cavaliers who had once glittered so 
gaily about the streets of Seville, and had come out to 
the new world elated with the most sanguine expecta- 
tions. From the very moment of their landing they had 
been disheartened at the savage scenes around them, and 
disgusted with the squallid life they were doomed to lead. 
They shrunk with disdain from the labours with which 
alone wealth was to be procured in this land of gold and 
pearls, and were impatient of the humble exertions ne- 
cessary for the maintenance of existence. As the famine 
increased, their case became desperate ; for they were 
unable to help themselves, and their rank and dignity 
commanded neither deference nor aid at a time when 
common misery made every one selfish. Many of them, 
who had mortgaged estates in Spain to fit themselves out 
sumptuously for their Italian campaign, now perished for 
lack of food. Some would be seen bartering a robe of 
crimson silk, or some garment of rich brocade, for a 
pound of Indian bread or European biscuit; others sought 
to satisfy the cravings of hunger with the herbs and roots 
of the field, and one of the principal cavaliers absolutely 
expired of hunger in the public streets. 

Ill this wretched way, and in the short space of one 
month, perished seven hundred of the little army of 
youthful and buoyant spirits who had embarked with 
Pedrarias. The bodies of some remained for a day or 
two without sepulture, their friends not having sufficient 
strength to bury them. Unable to remedy the evil, 
Pedrarias gave permission for his men to flee from it. A 



♦■■>. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 229 

ship-load of starving adventurers departed for Cuba, 
where some of them joined the standard of Diego Velas- 
quez, who was colonizing that island ; others made their 
way back to Spain, where they arrived broken in health, 
in spirits and in fortune. 



P 






230 SPANISH VOYAGES OP DISCOVERY. [1^1% 




CHAPTER XIX. 

Fruitless expedition of Pedrarias. 

The departure of so many hungry mouths was some 
temporary relief to the colony; and Pedrarias, having 
recovered from his malady, bestirred himself to send ex- 
peditions in various directions for the purpose of foraging 
the country and collecting the treasure. 

These expeditions, however, were entrusted to his own 
favourites, and partisans; while Vasco Nunez, the man 
most competent to carry them into effect, remained idle 
and neglected. A judicial inquiry, tardily carried on, 
overshadowed him, and though it substantiated nothing, 
served to embarrass his actions, to cool his frifends, and to 
give him the air of a public delinquent. Indeed, to the 
other evils of the colony was now added that of excessive 
litigation, arising out of the disputes concerning the go- 
vernment of Vasco Nunez, and which increased to such a 
degree, that according to the report of the Alcalde Es- 
pinosa, if the law-suits should be divided among the peo- 
ple, at least forty would fall to each man's share.* This 
too was in a colony into which the government had com- 
manded that no lawyer should be admitted. 

Wearied and irritated by the check which had been 
given to his favourite enterprises, and confident of the 
ultimate approbation of the king, Vasco Nunez now de- 

* Herrera, dccad. 2. 1. i. c. 1. 



w ^ite 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 231 

termined to take his fortunes in his own hands, and to 
prosecute in secret his grand project of exploring the re- 
gions beyond the mountains. For this purpose he pri- 
vately despatched one Andres Garabito to Cuba to enlist 
men, and to make the requisite provisions for an expedi- 
tion across the isthmus, from Nombre de Dios, and for 
the founding a colony on the shores of the Southern 
Ocean, from whence he proposed to extend his discove- 
ries by sea and land. 

While Vasco Nunez awaited the return of Garabito, 
he had the mortification of beholding various of his colo- 
nising plans pursued and marred by Pedrarias. Among 
other enterprises, the governor despatched his lieutenant- 
general Juan de Ayora, at the head of four hundred men, 
to visit the provinces of those caciques with whom Vasco 
Nunez had sojourned and made treaties on his expedi- 
tion to the Southern Sea. Ayora partook of the rash 
and domineering spirit of Pedrarias, and harassed and 
devastated the countries which he pretended to explore. 
He was received with amity and confidence by various 
caciques who had formed treaties with Vasco NuFiez ; but 
he repaid their hospitality with the basest ingratitude, 
seizing upon their property,, taking from them their 
wives and daughters, and often torturing them to make 
them reveal their hidden or supposed treasures. Among 
those treated with this perfidy, we grieve to enumerate 
the youthful cacique who first gave Vasco NuFiez infor- 
mation of the sea beyond the mountains. 

The enormities of Ayora and of other captains of Pe- 
drarias produced the usual effect; the natives were roused 
to desperate resistance ; caciques, who had been faithful 
friends, were converted into furious enemies, and the ex- 
pedition ended in disappointment and disaster. 






232 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

The adherents of Vasco Nunez did not fail to contrast 
these disastrous enterprises with those which had been 
conducted with so much glory and advantage by their 
favourite commander; and their sneers and reproaches 
had such an effect upon the jealous and irritable disposi- 
tion of Pedrarias, that he determined to employ their 
idol in a service that would be likely to be attended with 
defeat, and to impair his popularity. None seemed more 
fitting for the purpose than an expedition to Dobayba, 
where he had once already attempted in vain to pene- 
trate, and where so many of his followers had fallen vic- 
tims to the stratagems and assaults of the natives. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 233 



CHAPTER XX. 

Second Expeditioti of Vasco JVujiez in quest of the Gold Temple of 

Dobayha. 

The rich mines of Dobayba, and the treasures of its 
golden temple; had continued to form a favourite theme 
with the Spanish adventurers. It was ascertained that 
Vasco Nunez had stopped short of the wealthy region on 
his former expedition, and had mistaken a frontier village 
for the residence of the cacique. The enterprise of the 
temple was, therefore, still to be achieved ; and it was 
solicited by several of the cavaliers in the train of Pe- 
drarias, with all the chivalrous ardour of that romantic 
age. Indeed common report had invested the enterprise 
with difficulties and danger sufficient to stimulate the 
ambition of the keenest seeker of adventure. The sava- 
ges who inhabited that part of the country, were coura- 
geous and adroit. They fought by water as well as by 
land, forming ambuscades with their canoes in the bays 
and rivers. The country was intersected by dreary 
fens and morasses, infested by all kinds of reptiles. 
Clouds of gnats and musquitoes filled the air ; there were 
large bats also, supposed to have the baneful properties 
of the vampire; alligators lurked in the waters, and the 
gloomy recesses of the fens were said to be the dens of 
dragons!* 

* P. Martyr. 
30 



234 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVEKV. [1514. 

Besides these objects of terror, both true and fabulous, 
the old historian, Peter Martyr, makes mention of an- 
other monstrous animal, said to infest this golden region, 
and which deserves to be cited, fts showing the imagi- 
nary dangers with which the active minds of the disco- 
verers peopled the unexplored wilderness around tVem. 

According to the tales of the Indians, there had oc- 
curred, shortly before the arrival of the Spaniards, a 
violent tempest, or rather hurricane, in the neighbourhood 
of Dobayba, which demolished houses, tore up trees by 
the roots, and laid waste whole forests. When the tem- 
pest had subsided and the affrighted inhabitants ventured 
to look abroad, they found that two monstrous animals 
had been brought into the country by the hurricane. 
According to their accounts they were not unlike the 
ancient harpies, and one being smaller than the other, 
was supposed to be its young. They had the faces of 
women, with the claws and wings of eagles, and were of 
such prodigious size that the very boughs of the trees 
on which they alighted broke beneath them. They 
would swoop down and carry oif a man as a hawk would 
bear off a chicken, flying with him to the tops of the 
mountains, where they would tear him in pieces and 
devour him. For some time they were the scourge and 
terror of the land, until the Indians succeeded in kill- 
ing the old one by stratagem, and hanging her on their 
long spears, bore her through all the towns to assuage the 
alarm of the inhabitants. The younger harpy, says the 
Indian tradition, was never seen afterwards.* 

Such were some of the perils, true and fabulous, with 

* P. Martyr, decad. 7, c. 10. 



jmti^.. 



1514.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 235 

which the land of Dobayba was said to abound; and, in 
fact, the very Indians had such a dread of its dark and 
dismal morasses, that, in their journey ings, they care- 
fully avoided them, preferring the circuitous and rugged 
paths of the mountains. 

Several of the youthful cavaliers, as has been observed, 
were stimulated rather than deterred by these dangers, 
and contended for the honour of the expedition; but 
Pedrarias selected his rival for the task, hoping, as has 
been hinted, that it would involve him in disgrace. 
Vasco Nuiiez promptly accepted the enterprise, for his 
pride was concerned in its success. Two hundred reso- 
lute men were given to him for the purpose ; but his 
satisfaction was diminished when he found that Luis 
Carrillo, aa officer of Pedrarias, who had failed in 
a perilous enterprise, was associated with him in the 
command. 

Few particulars remain to us of the events of this affair. 
They embarked in a fleet of canoes, and, traversing the 
gulf, arrived at the river which flowed down from the 
region of Dobayba. They were not destined, however, 
to achieve the enterprise of the golden temple. As they 
were proceeding rather confidently and unguardedly up 
the river, they were suddenly surprised and surrounded 
by an immense swarm of canoes, filled with armed sava- 
ges, which darted out from lurking places along the 
shores. Some of the Indians assailed them with lances, 
others with clouds of arrows, while some plunging into 
the water, endeavoured to overturn their canoes. In this 
way one half of the Spaniards were killed or drowned. 
Among the number fell Luis Carrillo, pierced through the 
breast bv an Indian lance. Vasco Nunez himself was 



236 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1514. 

wounded, and had great difficulty in escaping to the shore 
with the residue of his forces. 

The Indians pursued him and kept up a skirmishing 
attack, but he beat them off until the night, when he si- 
lently abandoned the shore of the river, and directed his 
retreat towards Darien. It is easier to imagine than to 
describe the toils and dangers and horrors which beset 
him and the remnant of his men as they traversed rugged 
mountains, or struggled through these fearful morasses of 
which they had heard such terrific tales. At length they 
succeeded in reaching the settlement of Darien. 

The partizans of Pedrarias exulted in seeing Vasco 
Nunez return thus foiled and wounded, and taunted his 
adherents with their previous boastings. The latter, 
however, laid all the blame upon the unfortunate Carrillo. 
'^ Vasco Nuflez," said they, ^^had always absolute com- 
mand in his former enterprises, but in this he has been 
embarrassed by an associate. Had the expedition been 
confided to him alone, the event had been far different." 




« 



.wi ■._, 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 237 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Letters from the King in favour of Vasco Nunez. — Arrival of Ga- 
rabito. — Arrest of Vasco JVunez. — (1515.) 

About this time despatches arrived from Spain that 
promised to give a new turn to the fortunes of Vasco 
Nuilez and to the general affairs of the colony. They 
were written after the tidings of the discovery of the 
South Sea, and the subjugation of so many important 
provinces of the Isthmus. In a letter addressed to Vasco 
Nunez, the king expressed his high sense of his merits 
and services, and constituted him Adelantado of the South 
Sea, and Governor of the provinces of Panama and Coyba, 
though subordinate to the general command of Pedrarias. 
A letter was likewise written by the king to Pedrarias, 
informing him of this appointment, and ordering him to 
consult Vasco Nunez on all public affairs of importance. 
This was a humiliating blow to the pride and consequence 
of Pedrarias, but he hoped to parry it. In the meantime, 
as all letters from Spain were first delivered into his 
hands, he withheld that intended for Vasco Nunez, until 
he should determine what course of conduct to adopt. 
The latter, however, heard of the circumstance, as did 
his friend the Bishop of Darien. The prelate made loud 
complaints of this interruption of the royal correspon- 
dence, which he denounced, even from the pulpit, as an 
outrage upon the rights of the subject, and an act of dis- 
obedience to the sovereign. 



mi 



238 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY, [1515. 

Upon this the governor called a council of his public 
officers ; and, after imparting the contents of his letter, 
requested their opinion as to the propriety of investing 
Vasco Nuiiez with the dignities thus granted to him. 
The Alcalde Mayor, Espinosa, had left the party of the 
bishop, and was now devoted to the governor. He in- 
sisted, vehemently, that the offices ought in no wise to be 
given to Vasco Nunez, until the king should be informed 
of the result of the inquest which was still going on against 
him. In this he was warmly supported by the treasurer 
and the accountant. The bishop replied, indignantly, that 
it was presumptuous and disloyal in them to dispute the 
commands of the king, and to interfere with the rewards 
conscientiously given by him to a meritorious subject. In 
this way, he added, they were defeating, by their pas- 
sions, the grateful intentions of their sovereign. The 
governor was overawed by the honest warmth of the 
bishop, and professed to accord with him in opinion. 
The council lasted until midnight; and it was finally 
agreed that the titles and dignities should be conferred 
on Vasco Nunez on the following day.* 

Pedrarias and his officers reflected, however, that if 
the jurisdiction implied by these titles were absolutely 
vested in Vasco Nunez, the government of Darien and 
Castilla del Oro would virtually be reduced to a trifling 
matter; they resolved, therefore, to adopt a middle 
course ; to grant him the empty titles, but to make him 
give security not to enter upon the actual government 
of the territories in question, until Pedrarias should give 



* Oviedo, part 2. c. 9. MS. Oviedo, the historian, was present 
at this consultation, and says that he wrote down the opinions 
i^iven on the occasion, which the parties signed with their proper 
hands. 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 239 

him permission. The bishop and Vasco Nunez assented 
to this arrangement; satisfied^, for the present, with se- 
curing the titles, and trusting to the course of events to 
get dominion over the territories.* 

The new honours of Vasco Nuilez were now promul- 
gated to the world, and he was every where addressed by 
the title of Adelantado. His old friends lifted up their 
heads with exultation, and new adherents flocked to his 
standard. Parties began to form for him and for Pedra- 
rias, for it was deemed impossible they could continue 
long in harmony. 

The jealousy of the governor was excited by these cir- 
cumstances ; and he regarded the newly created Adelan- 
tado as a dangerous rival and an insidious foe. Just at 
this critical juncture, Andres Garabito, the agent of 
Vasco Nuiiez, arrived on the coast in a vessel which he 
had procured at Cuba, and had freighted with arms and 
ammunition, and seventy resolute men, for the secret ex- 
pedition to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. He an- 
chored six leagues from the harbour, and sent word pri- 
vately to Vasco Nuflez of his arrival. 

Information was immediately carried to Pedrarias, that 
a mysterious vessel, full of armed men, was hovering on 
the coast, and holding secret communication with his 
rival. The suspicious temper of the governor immedi- 
ately took the alarm. He fancied some treasonable plot 
against his authority ; his passions mingled with his fears; 
and, in the first burst of his fury, he ordered that Vasco 
Nuiiez should be seized and confined in a wooden cage. 
The Bishop of Darien interposed in time to prevent an 
indignity which it might have been impossible to expiate. 

* Oviedo, part 2. c. 9. MS. 



¥0 



240 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

He prevailed upon the passionate governor, not merely to 
retract the order respecting the cage, but to examine the 
whole matter with coolness and deliberation. The result 
proved that his suspicions had been erroneous ; and that 
the armament had been set on foot without any treason- 
able intent. Vasco Nunez was therefore set at liberty, 
after having agreed to certain precautionary conditions ; 
but he remained cast down in spirit and impoverished in 
fortune, by the harassing measures of Pedrarias. 



# 



tf 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 241 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Expedition of Morales and Pizarro to the shores of the Pacific 
Ocean. — Their *visit to the Pearl Isla?ids. — Their disastrous re- 
turn across the mountains. 

The Bishop of Darierij encouraged by the success of 
his intercession, endeavoured to persuade the governor to 
go still further, and to permit the departure of Vasco 
Nuilez on his expedition to the South Sea. The jealousy 
of Pedrarias, however, was too strong to permit him to 
listen to such counsel. He was aware of the importance 
of the expedition, and was anxious that the Pearl Islands 
should be explored, which promised such abundant trea- 
sures; but he feared to increase the popularity of Vasco 
Nunez, by adding such an enterprise to the number of 
his achievements. Pedrarias, therefore, set on foot an 
expedition, consisting of sixty men, but gave the com- 
mand to one of his own relations, named Gaspar Morales. 
The latter was accompanied by Francisco Pizarro, who 
had already been to those parts in the train of Vasco 
Nunez, and who soon rose to importance in the present 
enterprise by his fierce courage and domineering genius. 

A brief notice of the principal incidents of this expe- 
dition is all that is necessary for the present narration. 

Morales and Pizarro traversed the mountains of the 
isthmus by a shorter and more expeditious route than that 
which had been taken by Vasco Nunez, and arrived on 
the shores of the South Sea at the territories of a cacique 

31 



242 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515. 

named Tutibra, by whom they were amicably entertain- 
ed. Their great object was to visit the Pearl Islands: 
the cacique, however, had but four canoes, which were 
insufficient to contain their whole party. One half of 
their number, therefore, remained at the village of 
Tutibra, under the command of a captain named Peiia- 
losaj the residue embarked in the canoes with Morales 
and Pizarro. After a stormy and perilous voyage, they 
landed on one of the smaller islands, where they had some 
skirmishing with the natives, and thence made their way 
to the principal island of the Archipelago, to which, from 
the report of its great pearl fishery, Vasco Nunez had 
given the name of Isla Rica. 

The cacique of this island had long been the terror of 
the neighbouring coasts, invading the main land with 
fleets of canoes, and carrying off the inhabitants into cap- 
tivity. His reception of the Spaniards was worthy of his 
fame. Four times did he sally forth to defend his terri- 
tory, and as often was he repulsed with great slaughter. 
His warriors were overwhelmed with terror at the fire- 
arms of the Spaniards, and at their ferocious blood- 
hounds. Finding all resistance unavailing, the cacique 
was at length compelled to sue for peace. His prayers 
being granted, he received the conquerors into his habi- 
tation, which was well built, and of immense size. Here 
he brought them, as a peace-offering, a basket curiously 
wrought, and filled with pearls of great beauty. Among 
these were two of extraordinary size and value. One 
weighed twenty-five carats ; the other was of the size of 
a Muscadine pear, weighing upwards of three drachms, 
and of oriental colour and lustre. The cacique consider- 
ed himself more than repaid by a present of hatchets, 
beads, and hawks-bells : and, on the Spaniards smiling at 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 243 

his joy, observed, ^^ These things I can turn to useful 
purpose, but of what vahie are those pearls to me?" 

Finding, however, that these baubles were precious in 
the eyes of the Spaniards, he took Morales and Pizarro to 
the summit of a wooden tower, commanding an unbound- 
ed prospect. ^^ Behold, before you,'' said he, '^ the in- 
finite sea, which extends even beyond the sun-beams. 
As to these islands which lie to the right and left, they 
are all subject to my sway. They possess but little gold, 
but the deep places of the sea around them are full of 
pearls. Continue to be my friends, and you shall have as 
many as you desire; for I value your friendship more 
than pearls, and, as far as in me lies, will never forfeit it." 

He then pointed to the main land, where it stretched 
away towards the east, mountain beyond mountain, until 
the summit of the last faded in the distance, and was 
scarcely seen above the watery horizon. In that direc- 
tion, he said, there lay a vast country of inexhaustible 
riches, inhabited by a mighty nation. He went on to re- 
peat the vague but wonderful rumours which the Spa- 
niards had frequently heard about the great kingdom of 
Peru. Pizarro listened greedily to his words, and while 
his eye followed the finger of the cacique, as it ranged 
along the line of shadowy coast, his daring mind kin- 
dled with the thought of seeking this golden empire be- 
yond the waters.* 

Before leaving the island, the two captains impressed 
the cacique with so great an idea of the power of the king 
of Castile, that he agreed to become his vassal, and to 
render him an annual tribute of one hundred pounds 
weight of pearls. 

* Herrera, d. 2. 1. i. c. iv. P. Martyr, d. 3. c. x. 



244 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515. 

The party having returned in safety to the main land, 
though to a different place from that where they had 
embarked, Caspar Morales sent his relation, Bernardo 
Morales, with ten men in quest of Pefialosa and his com- 
panions, who had remained in the village of Tutibra. 

Unfortunately for the Spaniards, during the absence 
of the commanders, this Pefialosa had so exasperated the 
natives by his misconduct, that a conspiracy had been 
formed by the caciques along the coast to massacre the 
whole of the strangers, when the party should return 
from the islands. 

Bernardo Morales and his companions, on their way 
in quest of Pefialosa, put up for the night in the village 
of a cacique named Chuchama, who was one of the con- 
spirators. They were entertained with pretended hos- 
pitality. In the dead of the night, however, the house 
in which they were sleeping was wrapped in flames, and 
most of them were destroyed. Chuchama then prepared 
with his confederates to attack the main body of the 
Spaniards who remained with Morales and Pizarro. 

Fortunately for the latter, there was among the Indians 
who had accompanied them to the islands a cacique 
named Chiruca, who was in secret correspondence with 
the conspirators. Some circumstances in his conduct 
excited their suspicions ; they put him to the torture and 
drew from him a relation of the massacre of their com- 
panions, and of the attack with which they were me- 
naced. 

Morales and Pizarro were at first appalled by the 
overwhelming danger which surrounded them. Con- 
cealing their agitation, however, they compelled Chiruca 
to send a message to each of the confederate caciques, 
inviting him to a secret conference, under pretence of 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 245 

giving him important information. The caciques came 
at the summons : they were thus taken one by one to the 
number of eighteen, and put in chains. Just at this 
juncture Penalosa arrived with the thirty men who had 
remained with him at Tutibra. Their arrival was hailed 
with joy by their comrades, who had given them up for 
lost. Encouraged by this unexpected reinforcement, the 
Spaniards now attacked by surprise the main body of 
confederate Indians, who, being ignorant of the dis- 
covery of their plot and capture of their caciques, were 
awaiting the return of the latter in a state of negligent 
security. 

Pizarro led the van, and set upon the enemy at day- 
break with the old Spanish war-cry of Santiago! It 
was a slaughter rather than a battle, for the Indians were 
unprepared for resistance. Before sun-rise, seven 
hundred lay dead upon the field. Returning from 
the massacre, the commanders doomed the caciques who 
were in chains to be torn in pieces by the bloodhounds ; 
nor was even Chiruca spared from this sanguinary sen- 
tence. Notwithstanding this bloody revenge, the vin- 
dictive spirit of the commanders was still unappeased, 
and they set off to surprise the village of a cacique named 
Biru, who dwelt on the eastern side of the Gulf of St. 
Michael. He was famed for valour and for cruelty : his 
dwelling was surrounded by the weapons and other tro- 
phies of those whom he had vanquished; and he was 
said never to give quarter. 

The Spaniards assailed his village before day-break 
with fire and sword, and made dreadful havoc. Biru 
escaped from his burning habitation, rallied his people, 
kept up a galling fight throughout the greater part of 
that day, and handled the Spaniards so roughly, that. 



246 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515. 

when he drew off at night, they did not venture to pur- 
sue him, but returned right gladly from his territory. 
According to some of the Spanish writers, the kingdom 
of Peru derived its name from this warlike cacique, 
through a blunder of the early discoverers; the asser- 
tion, however, is believed to be erroneous. 

The Spaniards had pushed their bloody revenge to an 
extreme, and were now doomed to suffer from the recoil. 
In the fury of their passions, they had forgotten that they 
were but a handful of men surrounded by savage nations. 
Returning wearied and disheartened from the battle with 
Biru, they were waylaid and assaulted by a host of In- 
dians led on by the son of Chiruca. A javelin from his 
hand pierced one of the Spaniards through the breast and 
came out between the shoulders; several others were 
wounded, and the remainder were harassed by a galling 
fire kept up from among rocks and bushes. 

Dismayed at the implacable vengeance they had 
aroused, the Spaniards hastened to abandon these hostile 
shores and make the best of their way back to Darien. 
The Indians, however, were not to be appeased by the 
mere departure of the intruders. They followed them 
perseveringly for seven days, hanging on their skirts, 
and harassing them by continual alarms. Morales and 
Pizarro, seeing the obstinacy of their pursuit, en- 
deavoured to gain a march upon them by stratagem. 
Making large fires as usual one night about the place of 
their encampment, they left them burning to deceive 
the enemy while they made a rapid retreat. Among 
their number was one poor fellow named Velasquez, who 
was so grievously wounded that he could not walk. Un- 
able to accompany his countrymen in their flight, and 
dreading to fall into the merciless hands of the savages. 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 247 

he determined to hang himself, nor could the prayers and 
even tears of his comrades dissuade him from his pur- 
pose. 

The stratagem of the Spaniards, however, was una- 
vailing. Their retreat was perceived, and at day-break, 
to their dismay, they found themselves surrounded by 
three squadrons of savages. Unable, in their haggard 
state, to make head against so many foes, they remained 
drawn up all day on the defensive, some watching while 
others reposed. At night they lit their fires and again 
attempted to malfe a secret retreat. The Indians, how- 
ever, were as usual on their traces, and wounded several 
with arrows. Thus pressed and goaded, the Spaniards 
became desperate, and fought like madmen, rushing upon 
the very darts of the enemy. 

Morales now resorted to an inhuman and fruitless ex- 
pedient to retard his pursuers. He caused several Indian 
prisoners to be slaiuj hoping that their friends would stop 
to lament over them; but the sight of their mangled 
bodies only increased the fury of the savages and the ob- 
stinacy of their pursuit. 

For nine days were the Spaniards hunted in this man- 
ner about the woods and mountains, the swamps and fens, 
wandering they knew not whither, and returning upon 
their steps, until, to their dismay, they found themselves 
in the very place where, several days previously, they 
had been surrounded by the three squadrons. 

Many now began to despair of ever escaping with life 
from this trackless wilderness, thus teeming with deadly 
foes. It was with difficulty their commanders could rally 
their spirits, and encourage them to persevere. Entering 
a thick forest they were again assailed by a band of In- 
dians, but despair and fury gave them strength: they 



248 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515. 

fought like wild beasts rather than like men, and routed 
the foe with dreadful carnage. They had hoped to gain 
a breathing time by this victory, but a new distress at- 
tended them. They got entangled in one of those deep 
and dismal marshes which abound on those coasts, and in 
which the wanderer is often drowned or suffocated. For 
a whole day they toiled through brake and bramble, 
and miry fen, with the water reaching to their girdles. 
At length they extricated themselves from the swamp, and 
arrived at the sea shore. The tide wasi out, but was 
about to return, and on this coast it rise^rapidly to a great 
height. Fearing to be overwhelmed by the rising surf, 
they hastened to climb a rock out of reach of the swelling 
waters. Here they threw themselves on the earth pant- 
ing with fatigue and abandoned to despair. A savage 
wilderness filled with still more savage foes, was on one 
side, on the other the roaring sea. How were they to 
extricate themselves from these surrounding perils? 
While reflecting on their desperate situation, they heard 
the voices of Indians. On looking cautiously round, they 
beheld four canoes entering a neighbouring creek. A 
party was immediately despatched who came upon the 
savages by surprise, drove them into the woods, and 
seized upon the canoes. In these frail barks the Spaniards 
escaped from their perilous neighbourhood, and, travers- 
ing the Gulf of St. Michael, landed in a less hostile part, 
from whence they set out a second time, across the 
mountains. 

It is needless to recount the other hardships they en- 
dured, and their further conflicts with the Indians ; suf- 
fice it to say, after a series of almost incredible sufferings 
and disasters, they at length arrived in a battered and ema- 
ciated condition at Darien. Throughout all their toils and 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 249 

troubles, however, they had managed to preserve a part 
of the treasure they had gained in the islands ; especially 
the pearls given them by the cacique of Isla Rica. These 
were objects of universal admiration. One of them was 
put up at auction, and bought by Pedrarias, and was af- 
terwards presented by his wife Dona Isabella de Boba- 
dilla to the Empress, who, in return, gave her four 
thousand ducats.* 

Such was the cupidity of the colonists, that the sight 
of these pearls and the reputed wealth of the islands of 
the Southern Sea, and the kingdoms on its borders, made 
far greater impression on the public mind, than the tale 
told by the adventurers of all the horrors they had past ; 
and every one was eager to seek .these wealthy regions 
beyond the mountains. 

* Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. 2, 1. i. c. 4. 



32 



250 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515, 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Unfortimdle Enterprises of the Qfjicers of Pedrarias. — Matrimonial 
Compact hetzveen the Governor and Vasco JVunez. 

In narrating the preceding expedition of Morales and 
Pizarro, we have been tempted into what may almost be 
deemed an episode, though it serves to place in a proper 
light the lurking difficulties and dangers which beset the 
expeditions of Vasco Nunez to the same regions, and his 
superior prudence and management in avoiding them. 
It is not tlie object of this narrative, however, to record 
the general events of the colony under the administration 
of Don Pedrarias Davila. We refrain, therefore, from 
detailing various expeditions set on foot by him to explore 
and subjugate the surrounding country ; and which, being 
ignorantly or rashly conducted, too often ended in misfor- 
tune and disgrace. One of these was to the province of 
Zenu, where gold was supposed to be taken in the rivers 
in nets; and where the Bachelor Enciso once undertook 
to invade the sepulchres. A captain named Francisco 
Becerra penetrated into this country at the head of one 
hundred and eighty men, well armed and equipped, and 
provided with three pieces of artillery; but neither the 
commander nor any of his men returned. An Indian boy 
who accompanied them was the only one who escaped, 
and told the dismal tale of their having fallen victims to 
the assaults and stratagems and poisoned arrows of the 
Indians. 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ 1)E HAL150A. 251 

Another band was defeated by Tubanama, th*e ferocious 
cacique of the mountains, who bore as banners the bloody 
shirts of the Spaniards he had slain in former battles. In 
fine, the colony became so weakened by these repeated- 
losses, and the savages so emboldened by success, that the 
latter beleaguered it with their forces, harassed it by 
assaults and ambuscades, and reduced it to great ex- 
tremity. Such was the alarm in Darien, says the Bishop 
Las Casas, that the people feared to be burnt in their 
houses. They kept a watchful eye upon the mountains, 
the plains, and the very branches of the trees. Their 
imaginations were infected by their fears. If they looked 
toward the land, the long waving grass of the savannahs 
appeared to them to be moving hosts of Indians. If they 
looked towards the sea, they fancied they beheld fleets of 
canoes in the distance. Pedrarias endeavoured to pre- 
vent all rumours from abroad that might increase this 
fevered state of alarm ; at the same time he ordered the 
smelting-house to be closed, which was never done but in 
time of war. This was done at the suggestion of the 
Bishop, who caused prayers to be put up, and fasts pro- 
claimed, to avert the impending calamities. 

While Pedrarias was harrassed and perplexed by these 
complicated evils, he was haunted by continual appre- 
hensions of the ultimate ascendency of Vasco Nunez. 
He knew him to be beloved by the people, and befriend- 
ed by the Bishop ; and he had received proofs that his 
services were highly appreciated by the king. He knew 
also that representations had been sent home by him and 
his partizans, of the evils and abuses of the colony under 
the present rule, and of the necessity of a more active and 
efficient governor. He dreaded lest these representations 
should ultimately succeed ; that he should be undermined 



252 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1515. 

in the ro^al favour, and Vasco Nunez be elevated upon 
his ruins. 

The politic bishop perceived the uneasy state of the 
governor's mind, and endeavoured, by means of his ap- 
prehensions, to effect that reconciliation which he had 
sought in vain to produce through more generous mo- 
tives. He represented to him that his treatment of Vasco 
Nunez was odious in the eyes of the people, and must 
eventually draw on him the displeasure of his sovereign. 
^' Rut why persist,'' added he, ^^ in driving a man to be- 
come your deadliest enemy, whom you may grapple to 
your side as your firmest friend? You have- several 
daughters — give him one in marriage; you will then 
have for a son-in-law a man of merit and popularity, who 
is a hidalgo by birth, and a favourite of the king. You 
are advanced in life and infirm ; he is in the prime and 
vigour of his days, and possessed of great activity. You 
can make him your lieutenant; and while you repose 
from your toils, he can carry on the affairs of the colony 
with spirit and enterprise ; and all his achievements will 
redound to the advancement of your family and the splen- 
dour of your administration." 

The governor and his lady were won by the eloquence 
of the bishop, and readily listened to his suggestions; and 
Vasco Nunez was but too happy to effect a reconciliation 
on such flattering terms. Written articles were accord- 
ingly drawn up and exchanged, contracting a marriage 
between him and the eldest daughter of Pedrarias. The 
young lady was then in Spain, but was to be sent for, and 
the nuptials were to be celebrated on her arrival, at 
Darien. 



1515.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 253 

Having thus fulfilled his office of peace- makei> and 
settled^ as he supposed, all feuds and jealousies on the 
sure and permanent foundation of family alliance., the 
worthy bishop departed shortly afterwards for Spain. 



254 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Vasco J\'une: Iratisports ships across the motmtai?is to the Pacific 
Ocean. — (1516.) 

Behold Vasco Nunez once more in the high career of 
prosperity! His most implacable enemy had suddenly 
been converted into his dearest friend ; for the governor, 
now that he looked upon him as his son in law, loaded 
him with favours. Above all, he authorized him to build 
brigantines and make all the necessary preparations for his 
long desired expedition to explore the Southern Ocean. 
The place appointed for these purposes was the port of 
Careta, situated to the west of Darien; from whence 
there was supposed to be the most convenient route ■ 
across the mountains. A town called Ada had been 
founded at this port; and the fortress was already erect- 
ed, of which Lope de Olano was Alcalde ; Vasco Nunez 
was now empowered to continue the building of the town. 
Two hundred men were placed under his command to 
aid him in carrying his plans into execution, and a sum of 
money was advanced to him out of the royal treasury. 
His supply of funds, however, was not sufficient; but he 
received assistance from a private source. There was a 
notary at Darien, named Hernando de Arguello, a man 
of some consequence in the community, and who hai 
been one of the most furious opponents of the unfortunate 
Nicuesa. He had amassed considerable property, and 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. . 255 

now embarked a great part of it in the proposed enterprise, 
on condition, no doubt, of sharing largely in its antici- 
pated profits. 

On arriving at Ada, Vasco Nunez set to work to pre- 
pare the materials of four brigantines that were to be 
launched into the South Sea. The timber was felled on 
the Atlantic seaboard ; and was then, with the anchors 
and rigging, transported across the lofty ridge of moun- 
tains to the opposite shores of the Isthmus. Sieveral 
Spaniards, thirty Negroes, and a great number of Indians 
were employed for the purpose. They had no other 
roads but Indian paths, straggling through almost imper- 
vious forests, across torrents, and up rugged defiles, bro- 
ken by rocks and precipices. In this, way they toiled 
like ants up the mountains, with their ponderous bur- 
thens, under the scorching rays of a tropical sun. Many 
of the poor Indians sank by the way and perished under 
this stupendous task. The Spaniards and Negroes, being 
of hardier constitutions, were better able to cope with 
the incredible hardships to which they were subjected. 
On the summit of the mountains a house had been pro- 
vided for their temporary repose. After remaining here 
a little time to refresh themselves and gain new strength, 
they renewed their labours, descending the opposite side 
of the mountains until they reached the navigable part of 
a river, which they called the Balsas, and which flowed 
into the Pacific. 

Much time and trouble, and many lives were expend- 
ed on this arduous undertaking, before they had trans- 
ported to the river suflicient timber for two brigantines; 
while the timber for the other two, and the rigging and 
munitions for the whole, yet remained to ])e brought. 



N 



256 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

To add to their difficulties, they had scarcely begun to 
work upon the timber before they discovered that it was 
totally useless, being subject to the ravages of the worms 
from having been cut in the vicinity of salt water. They 
were obliged, therefore, to begin anew, and fell trees on 
the border of the river. 

Vasco Nufiez maintained his patience and persever- 
ance, and displayed admirable management under these 
delays and difficulties. Their supply of food being 
scanty, he divided his people, Spaniards, Negroes, and 
Indians, into three bands ; one was to cut and saw the 
wood, another to bring the rigging and iron work from 
Ada, which was twenty- two leagues distant; and the 
third to forage the neighbouring country for provisions. 

Scarcely was the timber felled and shaped for use 
when the rains set in, and the river swelled and over- 
flowed its banks so suddenly, that the workmen barely 
escaped with their lives, by clambering into the trees; 
while the wood on which they had been working was 
either buried in sand or slime, or swept away by the 
raging torrent. Famine was soon added to their other 
distresses. The foraging party was absent and did not 
return with food ; and the swelling of the river cut them 
off from that part of the country from whence they ob- 
tained their supplies. They were reduced, therefore, to 
such scarcity, as to be fain to assuage their hunger with 
such roots as they could gather in the forests. 

In this extremity the Indians bethought themselves of 
one of their rude and simple expedients. Plunging into 
the river they fastened a number of logs together with 
withes, and connected them with the opposite bank, so as 
to make a floating bridge. On this a party of the Span- 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 257 

iards crossed with great difficulty and peril, from the 
violence of the current, and the flexibility of the bridge, 
which often sank beneath them until the water rose above 
their girdles. On being safely landed they foraged the 
neighbourhood, and procured a supply of provisions suffi- 
cient for the present emergency. 

When the river subsided the workmen again resumed 
their labours ; a number of recruits arrived from Ada, 
bringing various supplies, and the business of the enter- 
prise was pressed with redoubled ardour, until at length, 
after a series of incredible toils and hardships, Vasco 
Nunez had the satisfaction to behold two of his brigan- 
tines floating on the river Balsas. As soon as they could 
be equipped for sea, he embarked in them with as many 
Spaniards as they could carry ; and, issuing forth from 
the river, launched triumphantly on the great ocean he 
had discovered. 

We can readily imagine the exultation of this intrepid 
adventurer, and how amply he was repaid for all his suf- 
ferings, when he first spread a sail upon that untraversed 
ocean, and felt that the range of an unknown world was 
open to him. 

There are points in the history of these Spanish dis- 
coveries of the western hemisphere, that make us pause 
with wonder and admiration at the daring spirit of the 
men who conducted them, and the appalling difficulties 
surmounted by their courage and perseverence. We 
know few instances., however, more striking than this 
piece-meal transportation, across the mountains of Da- 
rien, of the first European ships that ploughed the 
waves of the Pacific ; and we can readily excuse the 
boast of the old Castilian writers, when they exclaim, 

33 



258 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

^Hhat none but Spaniards could ever have conceived 
or persisted in such an undertaking ; and no commander 
in the new world but Vasco Nuilez could have conducted 
it to a successful issue."* 

* Herrera, d. 2. 1. ii, c. 1 1. 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 259 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Cruise of Vasco Nunez in the Southern Sea — Rumours from 

Ada. 

The first cruise of Vasco Nunez was to the grljup of 
Pearl islands, on the principal one of which he disem- 
barked the greater part of his crews, and despatched the 
brigantines to the main land to bring oiF the remainder. 
It was his intention to construct the other two vessels of 
his proposed squadron at this island, During the ab- 
sence of the brigantines he ranged the island with his 
men, to collect provisions, and to establish a complete 
sway over the natives. On the return of his vessels, and 
while preparations were making for the building of the 
others, he embarked with a hundred men, and departed 
on a reconnoitering cruise to the eastward, towards 
the region pointed out by the Indians as abounding in 
riches. ^ 

Having passed about twenty leagues beyond the Gulf 
of San Miguel, the mariners were filled with appre- 
hension at beholding a great number of whales, which 
resembled a reef of rocks stretching far into the sea, 
and lashed by breakers. In* an unknown ocean like 
this, every unusual object is apt to inspire alarm. The 
seamen feared to approach these fancied dangers in the 
dark ; Vasco Nunez anchored, therefore, for the night, 
under a point of land, intending to continue iii the 
same direction on the following day. When the morn- 



260 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

ing dawned, however, the wind had changed, and was 
contrary ; whereupon he altered his course, and thus 
abandoned a cruise, whicli, if persevered in, might have 
terminated in the discovery of Peru ! Steering for the 
main land, he anchored on that part of the coast go- 
verned by the cacique Chuchama, who had massacred 
Bernardo Morales and his companions, when reposing in 
his village. Here landing with his men, Vasco Nunez 
came suddenly upon the dwelling of the cacique. The 
Indians sallied forth to defend their homes, but were 
routed with great loss ; and ample vengeance was taken 
upon them for their outrage upon the laws of hospitality. 
Having thus avenged the death of his countrymen, Vasco 
Nunez re-embarked and returned to Isla Rica. 

He now applied himself diligently to complete the 
building of his brigantines, despatching men to Ada to 
bring the necessary stores and rigging across the moun- 
tains. While thus occupied, a rumour reached him that 
a new governor named Lope de Sosa was coming out 
from Spain to supersede Pedrarias. Vasco Nunez was 
troubled at these tidings. A new governor would be 
likely to adopt new measures, or to have new favourites. 
He feared, therefore, that some order might come to sus- 
pend or embarrass his expedition ; or that the command of 
it might be given to another. In his perplexity he held 
a consultation with several of his confidential officers. 

After some debate, it was agreed among them that a 
trust)iand intelligent person should be sent as a scout to 
Ada, under pretence of procuring munitions for the 
ships. Should he find Pedrarias in quiet possession of 
the government, he was to account to him for the delay 
of the expedition; to request that the time allotted to 
it might be extended, and to request reinforcements and 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 261 

supplies. Should he find, however, that a new go- 
vernor was actually arrived, he was to return immediately 
with the tidings. In such case it was resolved to put to 
sea before any contrary orders could arrive, trusting 
eventually to excuse themselves on the plea of zeal and 
good intentions. 



262 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [I5l6. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Reconnoitering expeditiofi of Garabito. Siratagen of Pedrarias lo 
entrap Vasco JVunez. 

The person entrusted with the reconnoitering expedi- 
tion to Ada was Andres Garabito, in whose fidelity and 
discretion Vasco Nunez had implicit confidence. His 
confidence was destined to be fatally deceived. Accord- 
ing to the assertions of contemporaries, this Garabito 
cherished a secret and vindictive enmity against his com- 
mander, arrising from a simple but a natural cause. 
Vasco Nunez had continued to have a fondness for the 
Indian damsel, daughter of the cacique Careta, whom he 
had received from her father as a pledge of amity. Some 
dispute arose concerning her on one occasion between 
him and Garabito, in the course of which he expressed 
himself in severe and galling language. Garabito was 
deeply mortified at some of his expressions, and, being of 
a malignant spirit, determined on a dastardly revenge. 
He wrote privately to Pedrarias, assuring him that Vasco 
Nunez had no intention of solemnizing his marriage with 
his daughter, being completely under the influence of an 
Indian paramour ; that he made use of the friendship of 
Pedrarias merely to further his own selfish views, intend- 
ing, as soon as his ships were ready, to throw off all al- 
legiance, and to put to sea as an independent commander. 

This mischievous letter Garabito had written imme- 
diately after the last departure of Vasco Nunez from 



1519.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 263 

Ada. Its effects upon the proud and jealous spirit of the 
governor may easily be conceived. All his former sus- 
picions were immediately revived. They acquired 
strength during a long interval that elapsed without tid- 
ings being received from the expedition. There were 
designing and prejudiced persons at hand, who perceived 
and quickened these jealous feelings of the governor. 
Among these was the Bachelor Corral, who cherished 
a deep grudge against Vasco Nunez for having once 
thrown him into prison for his factious conduct; and 
Alonzo de la Puente, the royal treasurer, whom Vasco 
Nunez had affronted by demanding the re-payment of a 
loan. Such was the tempest that was gradually gathering 
in the factious little colony of Darien. 

The subsequent conduct of Garabito gives much con- 
firmation to the charge of perfidy that has been advanced 
against him. When he arrived at Ada he found that 
Pedrarias remained in possession of the government; for 
his intended successor had died in the very harbour. 
The conduct and conversation of Garabito was such as to 
arouse suspicions; he was arrested, and his papers and 
letters were sent to Pedrarias. When examined he 
readily suffered himself to be wrought upon by threats of 
punishment and promises of pardon, and revealed all that 
he knew, and declared still more that he suspected and 
surmised, of the plans and intentions of Vasco Nunez. 

The arrest of Garabito, and the seizure of his letters, 
produced a great agitation at Darien. It was considered 
a revival of the ancient animosity between the governor 
and Vasco Nuiiez, and the friends of the latter trembled 
for his safety. 

Hernando de Arguello, especially, was in great alarm. 
He had embarked the most of his fortune in the expedi- 



Mk 



264 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

tioii;, and the failure of it would be ruinous to him. He. 
wrote to Vasco Nuiiez informing him of the critical pos- 
ture of affairs, and urging him to put to sea without delay. 
He would be protected at all events, he said, by the Je- 
ronimite Fathers at San Domingo, who were at that time 
all-powerful in the new world, and who regarded his ex- 
pedition as calculated to promote the glory of God as well 
as the dominion of the king.* This letter fell into the 
hands of Pedrarias, and convinced him of the existence 
of a dangerous plot against his authority. He immediately 
ordered Arguello to be arrested ; and now devised means 
to get Vasco Nunez within his power. While the latter 
remained on the shores of the South Sea with his brigan- 
tines and his band of hearty and devoted followers, Pe- 
drarias knew that it would be in vain to attempt to take 
him by force. Dissembling his suspicions and intentions, 
therefore, he wrote to him in the most amicable terms, 
requesting him to repair immediately to Ada, as he 
wished to hold a conference with him about the impend- 
ing expedition. Fearing, however, that Vasco Nunez 
might suspect his motives and refuse to comply, he at the 
same time ordered Francisco Pizarro to muster all the 
armed force he could collect, and to seek and arrest his 
late patron and commander wherever he might be found. 



* In consequence of the eloquent representations made to the 
Spanish government by the venerable Las Casas, of the cruel 
wrongs and oppressions practised upon the Indians in the colonies, 
the Cardinal Ximenes, in 1516, sent out three Jeronimite Friars, 
chosen for their zeal and abilities, clothed with full powers to in- 
quire into and remedy all abuses, and to take all proper measures 
for the good government, religious instruction, and effectual pro- 
tection of the natives. The exercise of their powers at San Do- 
mingo made a great sensation in the new world, and, for a time, 
had a beneficial effect in checking the oppressive and licentious 
conduct of the colonists. 



L516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 265 

So great was the terror inspired by the arrest of Ar- 
giiello, and by the general violence of Pedrarias, that, 
though Vasco Nunez was a favourite with the great mass 
of the people, no one ventured to warn him of the danger 
that attended his return to Ada. 



34 



266 SPANISH A^OYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Vasco Nunez n/id the Astrologer. — His return to Ada. 

The old Spanish writers who have treated of the for- 
tunes of Vasco Nuuez^ record an anecdote which is 
worthy of being cited, as cliaracteristic of the people and 
the age. Among the motley crowd of adventurers lured 
across the ocean by the reputed wealth and wonders of 
the Nev/ world, was an Italian astrologer, a native of 
Venice, named Micer Codro. At the time that Vasco 
Nunez held supreme sway at Darien, this reader 
of the stars had cast his. horoscope, and pretended to 
foretell his destiny. Pointing one night to a certain star, 
he assured him that in the year in which he should be- 
hold that star in a part of the heavens which he desig- 
nated, his life would be in imminent jeopardy; but 
should he survive this year of peril, he would become 
the richest and most renowned captain throughout the 
Indies. 

Several years, it is added, had elapsed since this pre- 
diction was made ; yet, that it still dwelt in the mind of 
Vasco Nunez, was evident from the following circum- 
stance. While waiting the return of his messenger, Ga- 
rabito, he was on the shore of Isla Rica one serene even- 
ing, in company with some of his officers, when, regard- 
ing the heavens, he beheld the fated star exactly in that 
part of the firmament which had been pointed out by the 
Italian astrologer. Turning to his companions, with a 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 267 

smile, ^^ Behold/"' said he, " the wisdom of those who 
believe in soothsayers, and, above all, in such an astro- 
loger as Micer Codro! According to his prophecy, I 
should now be in imminent peril of my life ; yet, here I 
am, within reach of all my wishes ; sound in health, with 
four brigantines and three hundred men at my command, 
and on the point of exploring this great southern ocean.*' 
At this fated juncture, says the chroriiclers, arrived 
the hypocritical letter of Pedrarias, inviting him to an 
interview at Ada ! The discreet reader will decide for 
himself what credit to give to this anecdote, or rather, 
what allowance to make for the little traits of coincidence 
gratuitously added to the original fact by writers who de- 
light in the marvellous. The tenor of this letter awaken- 
ed no suspicion in the breast of Vasco Nunez, who re- 
posed entire confidence in the amity of the governor as 
his intended father-in-law, and appears to have been un- 
conscious of any thing in his own conduct that could war- 
rant hostility. Leaving his ships in command of Fran- 
cisco Companon, he departed immediately to meet the 
governor at Ada, unattended by any armed force. 

The messengers who had brought the letter maintained 
at first a cautious silence as to the events which had 
transpired at Darien. They were gradually won, how- 
ever, by the frank and genial manners of Vasco NuFiez, 
and grieved to see so gallant a soldier hurrying into the 
snare. Having crossed the mountains and drawn near to 
Ada, their kind feelings got the better of their caution, 
and they revealed the true nature of their errand, and 
the hostile intentions of Pedrarias. Vasco Nunez was 
struck with astonishment at the recital ; but, being un- 
conscious, it is said, of any evil intention, he could 
scarcly credit this sudden hostility in a man who had but 



268 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

recently promised him his daughter in marriage. He 
imagined the whole to be some groundless jealousy which 
his own appearance would dispel, and accordingly con- 
tinued on his journey. He had not proceeded far, how- 
ever, when he was met by a band of armed men, led by 
Francisco Pizarro. The latter stepped forward to arrest 
his ancient commander. Vasco Nunez paused for a mo- 
ment, and regarded him with a loo^ of reproachful asto- 
nishment. "How is this, Francisco?" exclaimed he. 
^^ Is this the way you have been accustomed to receive 
me?'' Offering no further remonstrance, he suffered him- 
self quietly to be taken prisoner by his former adherent, 
and conducted in chains to Ada. Here he was thrown 
into prison, and Bartolome Hurtado, once his favourite 
officer, was sent to take command of his squadron. 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ UE BALBOA. 269 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Ttial of Vasco JVunez. 

Don Pedrarias concealed his exultation at the suc- 
cess of the stratagem by which he had ensnared his gene- 
rous and confiding rival. He even visited him in prison^ 
and pretended deep concern at being obliged to treat 
him with this temporary rigour, attributing it entirely to 
certain accusations lodged against him by the Treasurer 
Alonzo de la Puente, which his official situation compel- 
led him to notice and investigate. 

"^ Be not afflicted, however, my son !'' said the hypo- 
crite, " an investigation will, doubtless, not merely esta- 
blish your innocence, but serve to render your zeal and 
loyalty towards your sovereign still more conspicuous.'" 

While Pedrarias assumed this soothing tone towards 
his prisoner, he urged the Alcalde Mayor Espinosa to 
proceed against him with the utmost rigour of the law. 

The charge brought against him of a treasonable con- 
spiracy to cast off all allegiance to the crown, and to as- 
sume an independent sway on the borders of the South- 
ern Sea, was principally supported by the confessions of 
Andres Garabito. The evidence is also cited of a sol- 
dier, who stood sentinel one night near the quarter 
of Vasco Nunez on Isla Rica, and who, being driven to 
take shelter from the rain under the eaves of the house, 
overheard a conversation between that commander and 
certain of his officers, wherein they agreed to put to sea 



J 



270 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

with the squadron on tlieir own account, and to set the 
governor at defiance. This testimony, according to Las 
Casas, arose from a misconstruction on the part of the 
sentinel, who only heard a portion of their conversation, 
relating to their intention of sailing without waiting for 
orders, in case a new governor should arrive to supersede 
Pedrarias. 

The governor in the meantime informed himself from 
day to day and hour to hour, of the progress of the trial, 
and, considering the evidence sufficiently strong to war- 
rant his personal hostility, he now paid another visit to 
his prisoner, and, throwing off all affectation of kindness, 
upbraided him in the most passionate manner. 

^^ Hitherto,"' said he, ^^ I have treated you as a son, 
because I thought you loyal to your king, and to me as 
his representative ; but as I find you have meditated re- 
bellion against the crown of Castile, I cast you off from 
my affections, and shall henceforth treat you as an 
enemy." 

Vasco Nunez indignantly repelled the charge, and ap- 
pealed to the confiding frankness of his conduct as 
a proof of innocence. "Had I been conscious of my 
guilt," said he, ^^what could have induced me to 
come here and put jnyself into your hands? Had 
I meditated rebellion, what prevented me from car- 
rying it into effect? I had four ships ready to weigh 
anchor, three hundred brave men at my command, and 
an open sea before me. What had I to do but to 
spread sail and press forward? There was no doubt 
of finding a land, whether rich or poor, sufficient for 
me and mine, far beyond the reach of your control. 
In the innocence of my heart, however, I came here 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 271 

promptly, at your mere request, and my reward is slan- 
der, indignity and chains!'^ 

The noble and ingenuous appeal of Vasco Nunez 
had no effect on the prejudiced feelings of the governor; 
on the contrary, he was but the more exasperated 
against his prisoner, and ordered that his irons should be 
doubled. 

The trial was now urged by him with increased 
eagerness. Lest the present accusation should not 
be sufficient to effect the ruin of his victim, the old 
inquest into his conduct as governor, which had re- 
mained suspended for many years, was revived, and 
he was charged anew with the wrongs inflicted on 
the Bachelor Enciso, and with the death of the unfor- 
tunate Nicuesa. 

Notwithstanding all these charges, the trial went on 
slowly, with frequent delays; for the Alcalde Mayor, 
Gaspar de Espinosa, seems to have had but little 
relish for the task assigned him, and to have needed 
frequent spurring from the eager and passionate go- 
vernor. He probably considered the accused as tech- 
nically guilty, though innocent of all intentional re- 
bellion, but was ordered to decide according to the 
strict letter of the law. He therefore at length gave 
a reluctant verdict against Vasco Nunez, but recom- 
mended him to mercy, on account of his great services, 
or entreated that, at least, he might be permitted to 
appeal. ^^No!" said the unrelenting Pedrarias, ^^If 
he has merited death, let him suffer death!" He 
accordingly condemned him to be beheaded. The 
same sentence was passed upon several of his officers, 
who were implicated in his alleged conspiracy ; among 
these was Hernando de Arguello, who had written 



272 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1516. 

the letter to Vasco Nunez, informing him of the arrest 
of his messenger, and advising him to put to sea, with- 
out heeding the hostility of Pedrarias. As to the per- 
fidious informer Garabito, he was pardoned and set at 
liberty. 

In considering this case as far as *we are enabled, 
from the imperfect testimony that remains on record, 
we are inclined to think it one where passion and 
self interest interfered with the pure administration of 
justice. Pedrarias had always considered Vasco Nu- 
iiez as a dangerous rival, and, though his jealousy had 
been for some time lulled by looking on him as an 
intended son-in-law, it was revived by the suggestion 
that he intended to evade his alliance, and to dispute 
his authority. His exasperated feelings hurried him 
too far to retreat, and, having loaded his prisoner with 
chains and indignities, his death became indispensable 
to his own security. 

For our own part, we have little doubt, that it was 
the fixed intention of Vasco Nunez, after he had once 
succeeded in the arduous undertaking of transporting 
his ships across the mountains, to suffer no capricious 
order from Pedrarias, or any other governor, to de- 
feat the enterprise which he had so long meditated, 
and for which he had so laboriously prepared. It is 
"probable he may have expressed such general determi- 
nation in the hearing of Garabito and of others of his 
companions. We can find ample excuse for such a 
resolution in his consciousness of his own deserts ; his 
experience of past hinderances to his expedition, aris- 
ing from the jealousy of others; his feeling of some 
degree of authority, from his office of Adelantado, and 
his knowledge of the favourable disposition and kind 



1516.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 273 

intentions of his sovereign towards him. We acquit 
him entirely of the senseless idea of rebelling against the 
crown ; and suggest these considerations in palliation of 
any meditated disobedience of PedrariaS;, should such a 
charge be supposed to have been substantiated. 



35 



274 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [151 7. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Executiofi ofVasco Nunez. — (1517.) 

It was a day of gloom and horror at Ada, when Vas- 
co Nunez and his companions were led forth to execu- 
tion. The populace were moved to tears at the un- 
happy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds had excited 
their admiration, and whose generous qualities had won 
their hearts. Most of them regarded him as the vic- 
tim of a jealous tyrant; and even those vv'lio thought 
him guilty, saw something brave and brilliant in the 
very crime imputed to him. Such, however, was the 
general dread inspired by the severe measures of Pe- 
drarias, that no one dared to lift up his voice, either 
in murmur or remonstrance. 

The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, pro- 
claiming, "^"^This is the punishment inflicted by com- 
mand of the king and his lieutenant, Don Pedrarias Da- 
vila, on this man, as a traitor and an usurper of the ter- 
ritories of the crown." 

When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he exclaimed 
indignantly, ^^ It is false ! never did such a crime enter 
my mind. I have ever served my king with truth and 
loyalty, and sought to augment his dominions." 

These words were of no avail in his extremity, but 
they were fully believed by the populace. 

The execution took place in the public square of 
Ada; and we are assured by the historian, Oviedo, who 



1517.] VASCO NUNEZ DE IJALBOA. 275 

was in the colony at the time, that the cruel Pedrarias 
was a secret witness of the hloody spectacle, vvhich he 
contemplated .from hetvveen the reeds of the wall of a 
house, about twelve paces from the scaffold ! * 

Vasco Nunez was the first to suffer death. Having 
confessed himself and partaken of the sacrament, he as- 
cended the scaffold with a firm step and a calm and 
manly demeanour ; and laying his head upon the block, 
it was severed in an instant from his body. Three of 
his officers, Valderrabano, Botello, and Hernan MuFios, 
were in like manner brought one by one to the block, 
and the day had nearly expired before the last of them 
was executed. 

One victim still remained. It was Hernan de Ar- 
guello, who had been condemned as an accomplice, for 
having written the intercepted letter. 

The populace could no longer restrain their feelings. 
They had not dared to intercede for Vasco Nuiiez, know- 
ing the implacable enmity of Pedrarias; but they now 
sought the governor, and throwing themselves at his feet, 
entreated that this man might be spared, as he had taken 
no active part in the alleged treason. The daylight, 
they said, was at an end, and it seemed as if God had 
hastened the night, to prevent the execution. 

The stern heart of Pedrarias was not to be touched. 
" No," said he, ^^ I would sooner die myself than spare 
one of them.'' The unfortunate Arguello was led to the 
block. The brief tropical twilight was past, and in the 
gathering gloom of the night the operations on the scaf- 
fold could not be distinguished. The multitude stood 
listening in breathless silence, until the stroke of the ex- 

* Oviedo, Hist. Ind. p. 2. c. 9. MS. 



376 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1517. 

ecutioner told that all was accomplished. They then 
dispersed to their homes with hearts filled with grief and 
bitterness, and a night of lamentation succeeded to this 
day of horrors. 

The vengeance of Pedrarias was not satisfied with the 
death of his victim ; he confiscated his property and dis- 
honoured his remains, causing his head to be placed upon 
a pole and exposed for several days, in the public 
square.* 

Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the prime 
and vigour of his days and the full career of his glory, 
one of the most illustrious and deserving of the Spanish 
discoverers — a victim to the basest and most perfidious 
envy. 

How vain are our most confident hopes, our brightest 
triumphs! When Vasco Nunez from the mountains of 
Darien, beheld the Southern Ocean revealed to his gaze, 
he considered its unknown realms at his disposal. When 
he had launched his ships upan its waters, and his sails 
were in a manner flapping in the wind, to bear him in 
quest of the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoff*ed at the 
prediction of the astrologer, and defied the influence of 
the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very moment 
of his departure ; betrayed into the hands of his most in- 
vidious foe ; the very enterprise that was to have crown- 
ed him with glory wrested into a crime ; and himself hur- 
ried to a bloody and ignominious grave, at the foot, as it 
were, of the mountain from whence he had made his dis- 
covery ! His fate, like that of his renowned predecessor 
Columbus, proves, that it is sometimes dangerous even 
to discern too greatly ! 

* Oviedo, iibi sup. 



1512.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 277 



THE FORTUNES 



OP 



VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 



" "itSQ&n—- 



It was in the year 1512 that Valdivia^ the regidor of 
Darien, was sent to Hispaniola by Vasco Nunez de Balboa 
for reinforcements and supplies for the colony. He set 
sail in a caravel, and pursued his voyage prosperously 
until he arrived in sight of the island of Jamaica. Here 
he was encountered by one of the violent hurricanes 
which sweep those latitudes, and driven on the shoals and ' 
sunken rocks called the Vipers, since infamous for many 
a shipwreck. His vessel soon went to pieces, and Val- 
divia and his crew, consisting of twenty men, escaped 
with difficulty in the boat, without having time to secure 
a supply either of water or provisions. Having no sails, 
and their oars being scarcely fit for use, they were driven 
about for thirteen days, at the mercy of the currents of 
those unknown seas. During this time their sufferings 
from hunger and thirst were indescribable. Seven of 
their number perished, and the rest were nearly famished, 
when they were stranded on the eastern coast of Yucatan, 
in a province called Maya. Here they were set upon by 



278 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

the natives, who broke their boat in pieces, and carried 
them off captive to the cacique of the province, by whose 
orders they were mewed up in a kind of pen. 

At first their situation appeared tolerable enough con- 
sidering the horrors from which they had escaped. They 
were closely confined, it is true, but they had plenty to 
eat and drink, and soon began to recover flesh and 
vigour. In a little while, however, their enjoyment of 
this good cheer met with a sudden check, for the 
unfortunate Valdivia, and four of his companions, were 
singled out by the cacique, on account of their improved 
condition, to be offered up to his idols. The natives of 
this coast in fact were cannibals, devouring the flesh of 
their enemies and of such strangers as fell into their 
hands. The wretched Valdivia and his fellow victims, 
therefore, were sacrificed in the bloody temple of the 
idol, and their limbs afterwards served up at a grand feast 
held by the cacique and his subjects. 

The horror of the survivers may be more readily 
imagined than described. Their liearts died within them 
when they heard the yells and bowlings of the savages 
over their victims, and the still more horrible revelry of 
their cannibal orgies. They turned with loathing from 
the food set so abundantly before them, at the idea that 
is was but intended to fatten them for a future banquet. 

Recovering from the first stupor of alarm, their despair 
lent them additional force. They succeeded in breaking, 
in the night, from the kind of cage in which they were 
confined, and fled to the depths of the forest. Here they 
wandered about forlorn, exposed to all the dangers and 
miseries of the wilderness ; famishing with hunger, yet 
dreading to approach the haunts of men. At length 
their suff'erings drove them forth from the woods into 



1512.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 279 

another part of the country, where they were again taken 
captive. The cacique of this province, however, was an 
enemy to the one from whom they had escaped, and of 
less cruel propensities. He spared their lives, and con- 
tented himself with making them slaves, exacting from 
them the severest labour. They had to cut and draw 
wood, to procure water from a distance, and to carry 
enormous burthens. The cacique died soon after their 
capture, and was succeeded by another called Taxmar. 
He was a chief of some talent and sagacity, but he con- 
tinued the same rigorous treatment of the captives. By 
degrees they sank beneath the hardships of their lot, 
until only two were left; one of them a sturdy sailor 
named Gonzalo Guerrero, the other a kind of clerical ad- 
venturer named Jeronimo de Aguilar. The sailor had 
the good luck to be transferred to the service of the 
cacique of the neighbouring province of Chatemal, by 
whom he was treated with kindness. Being a thorough 
son of the ocean, seasoned to all weathers, and ready for 
any chance or change, he soon accommodated himself to 
his new situation, followed the cacique to the wars, rose by 
his hardihood and prowess to be a distinguished warrior, 
and succeeded in gaining the heart and hand of an Indian 
princess. 

The other surviver, Jeronimo de Aguilar, was of a dif- 
ferent complexion. He was a native of Ecija, in Anda- 
lusia, and had been brought up to the church, and re- 
gularly ordained, and shortly afterwards had sailed in one 
of the expeditions to San Domingo, from whence he had 
passed to Darien. 

He proceeded in a different mode from that adopted 
by his comrade, the sailor, in his dealings with the In- 
dians, and in one more suited to his opposite calling. In- 



280 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

stead of playing the hero among the men, and the gallant 
among the women, he recollected his priestly obligations 
to humility and chastity. Accordingly, he made himself 
a model of meekness and obedience to the cacique and his 
warriors, while he closed his eyes to the charms of the 
infidel women. Nay, in the latter respect, he reinforced 
his clerical vows by a solemn promise to God to resist all 
temptations of the flesh, so he might be delivered out of 
the hands of these Gentiles. 

Such were the opposite measures of the sailor and the 
saint, and they appear to have been equally successful. 
Aguilar, by his meek obedience to every order, however 
arbitrary and capricious, gradually won the good will of the 
cacique and his family. Taxmar, however, subjected him 
to inany trials before he admitted him to his entire confi- 
dence. One day when the Indians, painted and decorated 
in warlike style, were shooting at a mark, a warrior, who 
had for some time fixed his eyes on Aguilar, approached 
suddenly and seized him by the arm. "Thou seest," 
said he, *^^the certainty of these archers; if they aim at 
the eye, they hit the eye — if at the mouth, they hit the 
mouth — what wouldset thou think, if thou wert to be 
placed instead of the mark, and they were to shoot at and 
miss thee?" 

Aguilar secretly trembled lest he should be the victim 
of some cruel caprice of the kind. Dissembling his fears, 
however, he replied with great submission, ^^I am your 
slave, and you may do with me as you please ; but you are 
too wise to destroy a slave who is so useful and obedient." 
His answer pleased the cacique, who had secretly sent 
this warrior to try his humility. 

Another trial of the worthy Jeronimo was less stern and 
fearful indeed, but equally perplexing. The cacique had 



1513.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 281 

remarked liis unexampled discretion with respect to the 
sex, but doubted his sincerity. After laying many petty 
temptations in his way, which Jeronimo resisted with 
the self denial of a saint, he at length determined to 
subject him to a fiery ordeal. He accordingly sent him 
on a fishing expedition accompanied by a buxom dam- 
sel of fourteen years of age : they were to pass the night 
by the sea-side, so as to be ready to fish at the first dawn 
of day, and were allowed but one hammock to sleep in. 
It was an embarrassing predicament — not apparently to 
the Indian beauty, but certainly to the scrupulous Jero- 
nimo. He remembered, however, his double vow, and, 
suspending his hammock to two trees, resigned it to his 
companion; while, lighting a fire on the sea shore, he 
stretched himself before it on the sand. It was, as he 
acknowledged, a night of fearful trial, for his sandy 
couch was cold and cheerless, the hammock warm and 
tempting; and the infidel damsel had been instructed 
to assail him with all manner of blandishments and re- 
proaches. His resolution^ however, though often sha- 
ken, was never overcome ; and the morning dawned upon 
him still faithful to his vow. 

The fishing over, he returned to the residence of the 
cacique, where his companion, being closely questioned, 
made known the triumph of his self-denial before all the 
people. From that time forward he was held in great 
respect ; the cacique especially treated him with unlimit- 
ed confidence, entrusting to him the care, not merely 
of his house, but of his wives, during his occasional 
absence. 

Aguilar now felt ambitious of rising to greater conse- 
quence among the savages, but this he knew was only 
to be done by deeds of arms. He had the example of 

36 



2^2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1513. 

the sturdy seaman, Gonzalo Guerrero, before his eyes, 
who had become a great captain in the province in which 
lie resided. He entreated Taxmar therefore to entrust 
him with bow and arrows, buckler and war club, and to 
enrol him among his warriors. The cacique complied. 
Aguilar soon made himself expert at his new weapons, 
signalized himself repeatedly in battle, and, from his 
superior knowledge of the arts of war, rendered Tax- 
mar such essential service, as to excite the jealousy of 
some of the neighbouring caciques. One of them re- 
monstrated with Taxmar for employing a warrior who 
was of a diflerent religion, and insisted that Aguilar 
should be sacrificed to their gods. ^' No,'' replied Tax- 
mar, " I will not make so base a return for such signal 
services: surely the gods of Aguilar must be good, 
since they aid him so effectually in maintaining a just 
cause." 

The cacique was so incensed at this reply that he as- 
sembled his warriors and marched to make war upon 
Taxmar. Many of the counsellors of the latter urged' 
him to give up the stranger who was the cause of this 
hostility. Taxmar, however, rejected their counsel with 
disdain and prepared for battle. Aguilar assured him 
that his faith in the Christian's God would be rewarded 
with victory; he, in fiict, concerted a plan of battle 
which was adopted. Concealing himself, with a chosen 
band of warriors, among thickets and herbage, he suf- 
fered the enemy to pass by in making their attack. Tax- 
mar and his host pretended to give way at the first onset. 
The foe rushed heedlessly in pursuit; whereupon Agui- 
lar and his ambuscade assaulted them in the rear. Tax- 
mar turned upon them in front; they were thrown in 
confusion, routed with great slaughter, and many of their 



1517.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 283 

chiefs taken prisoners. This victory gave Taxmar tlic 
sway over the land, and strengthened Aguilar more than 
ever in his good graces. 

Several years had elapsed in this manner, when, in 
1517, intelligence was brought to the province of the 
arrival on the neighbouring coast of great vessels of 
wonderful construction, filled with white and bearded 
meii;, who fought with thunder and lightning. It was, 
in fact, the squadron of Francisco Hernandez de Cordo- 
va, then on a voyage of discovery. The tidings of this 
strange invasion spread consternation through the coun- 
try, heightened, if we may credit the old Spanish wri- 
ters, by a prophecy current among the savages of these 
parts, and uttered in former times by a priest named 
Chilam Cambal, who foretold that a white and bearded 
people would come from the region of the rising sun, 
who would overturn their idols and subjugate the land. 

The heart of Jeronimo de Aguilar beat quick with 
hope when he heard of European ships at hand ; he was 
distant from the coast, however, and perceived that he 
was too closely watched by the Indians to have any 
chance of escape. Dissembling his feelings, therefore, 
he affected to hear of the ships with perfect indifference, 
and to have no desire -to join the strangers. The ships 
disappeared from the coast, and he remained disconsolate 
at heart, but was regarded with increased confidence by 
the natives. 

His hopes were again revived in the course of a year 
or two by the arrival on the coast of other ships, which 
were those commanded by Juan de Grijalva, who coasted 
Yucatan in 1518; Aguilar, however, was again pre- 
vented by the jealous watchfulness of the Indians from 
attempting his escape, and when this squadron left tbe 



284 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1519. 

coast he considered all chance of deliverance at an end. 

Seven years had gone by since his capture, and he 
had given up all hopes of ])eing restored to his country 
and friends, when, in 1519, there arrived one day at the 
village three Indians, natives of the small island of Cozumel, 
which lies a few leagues in the sea, opposite the eastern 
coast of Yucatan. They brought tidings of another 
visit of white bearded men to their shores, and one of 
them delivered a letter to Aguilar, which, being entirely 
naked, he had concealed it in the long tresses of his hair 
which were bound round his head. 

Aguilar received the letter with wonder and delight, 
and read it in presence of the cacique and his war- 
riors. It proved to be from Hernando Cortes, who was 
at that time on his great expedition, which ended in the 
conquest of Mexico. He had been obliged by stress of 
weather to anchor at the island of Cozumel, where he 
learned from the natives, that several white men were 
detained in captivity among the Indians on the neigh- 
bouring coast of Yucatan. Finding it impossible to ap- 
proach the main land with his ships, he prevailed upon 
three of the islanders, by means of gifts and promises, 
to venture upon an embassy among their cannibal neigh- 
bours, and to convey a letter to the captive white men. 
Two of the smallest caravels of the squadron were sent 
under the command of Diego de Ordas, who was ordered 
to land the three messengers at the point of Cotoche, and 
to wait there eight days for their return. 

The letter brought by these envoys informed the 
Christian captives of the force and destination of the 
squadron of Cortes, and of his having sent the caravels to 
wait for them at the point of Cotoche, with a ransom for 



1519.] VALniVlA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 285 

their deliverance^ inviting them to liasten and join Jiini 
at Cozumel. 

The transport of Aguilar on iirst reading the letter, 
was moderated when he reflected on the ohstacles that 
might prevent him from profiting by this chance of de- 
liverance. He had made himself too useful to the 
cacique to hope that he would readily give him his 
liberty, and he knew the jealous and irritable nature of 
the savages too well not to fear that even an application 
for leave to depart might draw upon him the severest 
treatment. He endeavoured, therefore, to operate upon 
the cacique through his apprehensions. To this end he 
informed him that the piece of paper which he held in 
his hand brought him a full account of the mighty ar- 
mament that had arrived on the coast. He described 
the number of the ships and various particulars concern- 
ing the squadron, all which were amply corroborated by 
the testimony of the messengers. The cacique and his 
warriors were astonished at this strange mode of convey- 
ing intelligence from a distance, and regarded the letter 
as something mysterious and supernatural. Aguilar went 
on to relate the tremendous and superhuman powers of 
the people in these ships, who, armed with thunder and 
lightning, wreaked destruction on all who displeased 
them, while they dispensed inestimable gifts and benefits 
on such as proved themselves their friends. He, at the 
same time spread before the cacique various presents 
brought by the messengers, as specimens of the blessings 
to be expected from the friendship of the strangers. The 
intimation was effectual. The cacique was filled with 
awe at the recital of the terrific powers of tlie white 
men, and his eyes were dazzled by the glittering trinkets 
displayed before him. Be entreated Aguilar, therefore, 



286 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1519. 

to act as his embassador and mediator, and to secure him 
the amity of the strangers. 

Aguilar saw with transport the prospect of a speedy 
deliverance. In this moment of exultation, he bethought 
himself of the only surviving comrade of his past fortunes, 
Gonsalo Guerrero, and, sending the letter of Cortes to 
liim, invited him to accompany him in his escape. The 
sturdy seaman was at this time a great chieftain in his 
province, and his Indian bride had borne him a numerous 
progeny. His heart, however, yearned after his native 
country, and he might have been tempted to leave his 
honours and dignities, his infidel wife and half savage 
offspring behind him, but an insuperable, though some- 
what ludicrous, obstacle presented itself to his wishes. 
Having long since given over all expectation of a return 
to civilized life, he had conformed to the customs of the 
country, and had adopted the external signs and decora- 
tions that marked him as a warrior and a man of rank. 
His face and hands were indelibly painted or tattooed ; 
his ears and lips were slit to admit huge Indian orna- 
ments, and his nose was drawn down almost to his mouth 
by a massy ring of gold, and a dangling jewel. 

Tluis curiously garbled and disfigured, the honest sea- 
man felt, that however he might be admired in Yucatan, 
he should be apt to have the rabble at his heels in Spain. 
He made up his mind, therefore, to remain a great man 
among the savages, rather than run the risk of being 
shown as a man-monster at home. 

Finding that he declined accompanying him, Jeronimo 
de Aguilar set off for the point of Cotoche, escorted by 
three Indians. The time he had lost in waiting for Gu- 
errero had nearly proved fatal to his hopes, for when he 
arj'ived at the point, the caravels sent by Cortes had de- 



1519.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 287 

parted, though several crosses of reeds set up ift different 
places gave tokens of the recent presence of Christians. 

The only hope that remained, was that the squadron 
of Cortes might yet linger at the opposite island of 
Cozumel; but how was he to get there? While wander- 
ing disconsolately along the shore, he found a canoe, half 
buried iu sand and water, and with one side in a state of 
decay ; with the assistance of the Indians he cleaned it, 
and set it afloat, and on looking further he found the 
stave of a hogshead which might serve for a paddle. It 
was a frail embarkation in which to cross an arm of the 
sea, several leagues wide, but there was no alternative. 
Prevailing on the Indians to accompany him, he launched 
forth in the canoe and coasted the mainland until he came 
to the narrowest part of the strait, where it was but four 
leagues across; here he stood directly for Cozumel, con- 
tending, as well as he was able, with a strong current, 
and at length succeeded in reaching the island. 

He had scarce landed when a party of Spaniards, who 
liad been lying in wait, rushed forth from their conceal- 
ment, sword in hand. The three Indians would have fled, 
but Aguilar reassured them, and, calling out to the Spa- 
niards in their own language, assured them that he was a 
Christian. Then, throwing himself upon his knees, and 
raising his eyes, streaming with tears to heaven, he gave 
thanks to God for having restored him to his country- 
men. 

The Spaniards gazed at him with astonishment: from 
his language he was evidently a Castilian, but to all ap- 
pearance he was an Indian. He was perfectly naked ; 
wore his hair braided round his head in the manner of the 
country, and his complexion was burnt by the sun to a 
tawny colour. He had a bow in his hand, a quiver at his 



288 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1519. 

shoulder, iind a net- work pouch at his side in which he 
carried his provisions. 

The Spaniards proved to he a reconnoitering party, 
sent out by Cortes to watch the approach of the canoe, 
which had been descried coming from Yucatan. Cortes 
had given up all hopes of being joined by the captives, 
the caravel having waited the allotted time at Cotoche, 
and returned without news of them. He had in fact made 
sail to prosecute his voyage, but fortunately one of his 
ships had sprung a leak, which had obliged him to return 
to the island. 

When Jeronimo de Aguilar and his companions arrived 
in presence of Cortes, who was surrounded by his officers, 
they made a profound reverence, squatted on the ground, 
laid their bows and arrows beside them, and touching 
their right hands, wet with spittle on the ground, rubbed 
them about the region of the heart, such being their sign 
of the most devoted submission. 

Cortes greeted Aguilar with a hearty welcome, and 
raising him from the earth, took from his own person a 
large yellow mantle lined with crimson, and threw it 
over his shoulders. The latter, however, had for so long 
a time gone entirely naked, that even this scanty covering 
was at first almost insupportable, and he had become so 
accustomed to the diet of the natives, that he found it 
difficult to reconcile his stomach to the meat and drink 
set before him. 

When he had sufficiently recovered from the agitation 
of his arrival among Christians, Cortes drew from him the 
particulars of his story, and found that he was related to 
one of his own friends, the licentiate Marcos de Aguilar. 
He treated him, therefore, with additional kindness and 



1519.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 289 

respect, and retained him about his person to aid him as 
an interpreter in his great Mexican expedition. 

The happiness of Jeronimo de Aguilar at once more 
being restored to his countrymen, was doomed to suffer 
some alloy from the disasters that had happened in his 
family. Peter Martyr records a touching anecdote of 
the effect that had been produced upon his mother by the 
tidings of his misfortune. A vague report had reached 
her in Spain, that her son had fallen into the hands of 
cannibals. All the horrible tales that circulated in Spain 
concerning the treatment of these savages to their prison- 
ers rushed to her imagination, and she went distracted. 
Whenever she beheld roasted meat, or flesh upon the 
spit, she would fill the house with her outcries. ^^Oh 
wretched mother! oh most miserable of women!" would 
she exclaim, "behold the limbs of my murdered son."* 

It is to be hoped that the tidings of his deliverance 
had a favourable effect upon her intellects, and that she 
lived to rejoice at his after fortunes. He served Her- 
nando Cortez with great courage and ability throughout 
his Mexican conquests, acting sometimes as a soldier, 
sometimes as interpreter and ambassador to the Indians, 
and in reward of his fidelity, and services, w^as appointed 
regidor, or civil governor of the city of Mexico. 

* P. Martyr, decad. 4, c. 6. 



37 



290 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 



MICER CODRO, THE ASTROLOGER. 



— •kVVQ Q Q44M— 



The fate of the Italian astrologer, Micer Codro, who 
predicted the end of Vasco Nunezj is related by the his- 
torian Oviedo, with some particulars that border upon 
the marvelous. It appears that;, after the death of his 
patron, he continued for several years rambling about the 
New World, in the train of the Spanish discoverers ; but 
intent upon studying the secrets of its natural history, 
rather than searching after its treasures. 

In the course of his wanderings he was once coasting 
the shores of the Southern ocean, in a ship command- 
ed by one Geronimo de Valenzuela, from whom he 
received such cruel treatment as to cause his death, 
though, what the nature of the treatment was, we are not 
precisely informed. 

Finding his end approaching, the unfortunate astrologer 
addressed Valenzuela in the most solemn manner: ^^ Cap- 
tain,'' said he, "you have caused my death by your 
cruelty ; I now summon you to appear with me, within a 
year, before the judgment seat of God!" 

The captain made a light and scofling answer, and 
treated his summons with contempt. 

They were then off the coast of Veragua, near the ver- 
dant islands of Zebaco, which lie at the entrance of the 
Gulf of Paria. The poor astrologer gazed wistfully with 
his dying eyes upon the green and shady groves, and en- 



MICER CODRO, THE ASTROLOGER. 291 

treated the pilot or niate of the caravel to land him on 
one of the islands, that he might die in peace. "Micer 
Codro.*' replied the pilot, "those are not islands but 
points of land: there are no islands hereabout.'* 

"There are, indeed,'" replied the astrologer, "two 
good and pleasant islands, well watered, and near to the 
coast, and within them is a great bay with a harbour. 
Land me, I pray you, upon one of these islands, that I 
may have comfort in my dying hour.'' 

The pilot, whose rough nature had been touched with 
pity for the condition of the unfortunate astrologer, lis- 
tened to his prayer, and conveyed him to the shore, 
where he found the opinion he had given of the character 
of the coast to be correct. He laid him on the herbage 
in the shade, where the poor wanderer soon expired. 
The pilot then dug a grave at the foot of a tree, where 
he buried him with all possible decency, and carved a 
cross on the bark to mark the grave. 

Some time afterwards, Oviedo, the historian, v/as on 
the island with this very pilot, who showed him the cross 
on the tree, and gave his honest testimony to the good 
character and worthy conduct of Micer Codro. Oviedo, 
as he regarded the nameless grave, passed the eulogium 
of a scholar upon the poor astrologer: "He died," says 
he, "like Pliny, in the discharge of his duties, travelling 
about the world to explore the secrets of nature." Ac- 
cording to his account the prediction of Micer Codra 
held good with respect to Valenzuela, as it had in the case 
of Vasco Nunez. The captain died within the term in 
which he had summoned him to appear before the tribunal 
of God!* 

* Vide Oviedo, Hist. Gen. i, xxxix. c. 2. 



292 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1508. 



JUAN PONCE DE LEON, 

CONQUEROR OF PORTO RICO, AND DISCOVERER OF FLO- 
RIDA. 

CHAPTER I. 

Reconnoitering Expeditioii of Juan Ponce de Leon to the Island of 
Bariquen. — ( 1508.) 

Many years had elapsed since the discovery and colo- 
nization of Hayti, yet its neighbouring island of Boriquen, 
or as the Spaniards called it, St. Juan (since named 
Porto Rico,) remained unexplored. It was beautiful to 
the eye as beheld from the sea, having lofty mountains 
clothed with forest trees of prodigious size and magni- 
ficent foliage. There were broad fertile valleys also, 
always fresh and green; for the frequent showers and 
abundant streams in these latitudes, and the absence of all 
wintry frost, produce a perpetual vei'dure. Various ships 
had occasionally touched at the island, but their crews 
had never penetrated into the interior. It was evident, 
however, from the number of hamlets and scattered 
houses, and the smoke rising in all directions from 
among the trees, that it was well peopled. The inhabi- 
tants still continued to enjoy their life of indolence and 



1508.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 293 

freedom, unmolested by the ills that overwhelmed the 
neighbouring island of Hayti. The time had arrived, 
however, when they were to share the common lot of 
their fellow savages, and to sink beneath the yoke of the 
white man. 

At the time when Nicholas de Ovando, Governor of 
Hispaniola, undertook to lay waste the great province of 
Higuey, which lay at the eastern end of Hayti, he sent 
as commander of part of the troops a veteran soldier, 
named Juan Ponce de Leon. He was a native of Leon in 
Spain, and in his boyhood had been page to Pedro 
Nunez de Guzman, Senor of Toral.* From an early age 
he had been schooled to war, and had served in the va- 
rious campaigns against the Moors of Granada. He ac- 
companied Columbus in his second voyage in 1493, and 
was afterwards, it is said, one of the partizans of Fran- 
cisco Roldan, in his rebellion against the admiral. Hav- 
ing distinguished himself in various battles with the In- 
dians, and acquired a name for sagacity as well as valour, 
he received a command subordinate to Juan de Esquibel 
in the campaign against Higuey, and seconded his chief 
so valiantly in that sanguinary expedition, that, after the 
subjugation of the province, he was appointed to the com- 
mand of it, as lieutenant of the Governor of Hispaniola. 

Juan Ponce de Leon had all the impatience of quiet 
life and the passion for exploit of a veteran campaigner. 
He had not been long in the tranquil command of his 
province of Higuey, before he began to cast a wistful eye 
towards the green mountains of Boriquen. They were 
directly opposite, and but twelve or fourteen leagues dis- 
tant, so as to be distinctly seen in the transparent atrao- 

* Incas, Garcilaso de la Vega, Hist. Florida, t. iv. c. 37. 



294 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1508. 

sphere of the tropics. The Indians of the two islands 
frequently visited each other, and in this way Juan Ponce 
received the usual intelligence, that the mountains he had 
eyed so wistfully abounded with gold. He readily ob- 
tained permission from Governor Ovando to make an ex- 
pedition to this island, and embarked in the year 1508, 
in a caravel, with a few Spaniards, and several Indian in- 
terpreters and guides. 

After an easy voyage, he landed on the woody shores 
of the island, near to the residence of the principal 
cacique, Agueybana. He found the chieftain seated in 
patriarchal style under the shade of his native groves, 
and surrounded by his family, consisting of his mother, 
step-father, brother and sister, who vied with each other 
in paying homage to the strangers. Juan Ponce, in fact, 
was received into the bosom of the family, and the 
cacique exchanged names with him, which is the Indian 
pledge of perpetual amity. Juan Ponce also gave Chris- 
tian names to the mother and step-father of the cacique, 
and would fain have baptized them, but they declined 
the ceremony, though they always took a pride in the 
names thus given them. 

In his zeal to gratify his guests, the cacique took them 
to various parts of the island. They found the interior 
to correspond with the external appearance. It was wild 
and mountainous, but magnificently wooded, with deep 
rich valleys fertilized by limpid streams. Juan Ponce 
requested the cacique to reveal to him the riches of the 
island. The simple Indian showed him his most produc- 
tive fields of Yuca, the groves laden with the most deli- 
cious fruit, the sweetest and purest fountains, and the 
coolest runs of water. 

Ponce de Leon heeded but little these real blessings. 



1508.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 295 

and demanded whether the island produced no gold. 
Upon this the cacique conducted him to two rivers, the 
Manatuabon and the Zebuco, where the very pebbles 
seemed richly veined with gold, and large grains shone 
among the sand through the limpid water. Some of the 
largest of these were gathered by the Indians and given to 
the Spaniards. The quantity thus procured confirmed 
the hopes of Juan Ponce ; and leaving several of his com- 
panions in the house of the hospitable cacique he returned 
to Hayti to report the success of his expedition. He 
presented the specimens of gold to the Governor Ovando, 
who assayed them in a crucible. The ore was not so fine 
as that of Hispaniola, but, as it was supposed to exist in 
greater quantities, the Governor determined on the sub- 
jugation of the island, and confided the enterprise to Juan 
Ponce de Leon. 



296 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER II. 

Juan Po7ice aspires to the government of Porto Rico. — (1509.) 

The natives of Boriqiien were more warlike than those 
of Hispaniola ; being accustomed to the use of arms from 
the necessity of repelling the frequent invasions of the 
Caribs. It was supposed, therefore, that the conquest of 
their island would be attended with some difficulty, and 
Juan Ponce de Leon made another, and as it were, a pre- 
paratory visit, to make himself acquainted with the coun- 
try, and with the nature and resources of the inhabitants. 
He found the companions whom he had left there on his 
former visit, in good health and spirits, and full of grati- 
tude towards the cacique Agueybana who had treated 
them with undiminished hospitality. There appeared 
to be no need of violence to win the island from such sim- 
ple hearted and confiding people. Juan Ponce flattered 
himself with the hopes of being appointed to its govern- 
ment by Ovando, and of bringing it peaceably into subjec- 
tion. After remaining some time on the island, he re- 
turned to San Domingo to seek the desired appointment, 
but to his surprise, found the whole face of affairs had 
changed during his absence. 

His patron, the Governor Ovando, had been recalled 
to Spain, and Don Diego Columbus, son of the renowned 
discoverer, appointed in his place to the command at San 
Domingo. To add to the perplexities of Juan Ponce, 
a cavalier had already arrived from Spain, empowered 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 297 

by the king to form a settlement and build a fortress 
on the island of Porto Rico. His name was Chris- 
toval de Sotomayor ; he was brother to the Count 
of Camina, and had been secretary to Philip I. sur- 
named the Handsome, king of Castile and father of 
Charles V. 

Don Diego Columbus was highly displeased with the 
act of the king in granting these powers to Sotomayor, 
as it had been done without his knowledge and consent, 
and of course in disregard of his prerogative, as vice- 
roy, to be consulted as to all appointments made 
within his jurisdiction. He refused, therefore, to put 
Sotomayor in possession of the island. He paid as 
little respect to the claims of Juan Ponce de Leon, 
whom he regarded with an ungracious eye as a fa- 
vourite of his predecessor Ovando. To settle the 
matter effectually, he exerted what he considered his 
official and hereditary privilege, and chose officers 
to suit himself, appointing one Juan Ceron to the go- 
vernment of Porto Rico, and Miguel Diaz to serve as 
his lieutenant.* 

Juan Ponce de Leon and his rival candidate, Chris- 
toval de Sotomayer, bore their disappointment with 
a good grace. Though the command was denied 
them, they still hoped to improve their fortunes in 
the island, and accordingly joined the crowd of ad- 
venturers that accompanied the newly appointed go- 
vernor. 

New changes soon take place in consequence of the 



* It' the reader has perused tlic history of Cohimbus, he may re- 
member the romantic adventure of this Miguel Diaz with a female 
cacique, which led to the discovery of the gold mines of Hayna, and 
the founding of the city of San Domingo. 

38 



298 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

jealousies and misunderstandings between king Ferdi- 
nand and the admiral as to points of privilege. The 
former still seemed disposed to maintain the right of 
making appointments without consulting Don Diego, and 
exerted it in the present instance; for, when Ovando, 
on his return to Spain, made favourable representation of 
the merits of Juan Ponce de Leon, and set forth his ser- 
vices in exploring Porto Rico, the king appointed him 
governor of that island, and signified specifically that Don 
Diego Columbus should not presume to displace him. 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 299 



CHAPTER III. 

Jium Ponce rules xailh a sirong hand — Exasperalkm of the In- 
dians — Their experimcnl to prove whether the Spaniards were 
mortal. 

Juan Ponce de Leon assumed the command of the 
island of Boriquen in the year 1509. Being a fiery 
high-handed old soldier, his first step was to quar- 
rel with Juan Ceron and Miguel Diaz, the ex-gover- 
nor and his lieutenant, and to send them prisoners to 
Spain.* 

He was far more favourable to his late competitor, 
Christoval de Sotomayor. Finding him to be a ca- 
valier of noble blood and high connexions, yet void of 
pretension, and of most accommodating temper, he of- 
fered to make him his lieutenant, and to give him the 
post of Alcalde Mayor, an oifer which was very thank- 
fully accepted. 

The pride of rank, however, which follows a man 
even into the wilderness, soon interfered with the quiet 
of Sotomayor ; he was ridiculed for descending so much 
below his birth and dignity, as to accept a subaltern situ- 
ation to a simple gentleman in the island which he had 
originally aspired to govern. He could not withstand 
these sneers, but resigned his appointment, and remained 
in the island as a private individual ; establishing him- 

* IIcrrcra,dccacl. 1. 1. vii. c. 13. 



300 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

self in a village where he had a large repartimiento or 
allotment of Indians assigned to him hy a grant from 
the king. 

Juan Ponce fixed his scat of government in a town 
called Caparra, which he founded on the northern side 
of the island, about a league from the sea^ in a neigh- 
bourhood supposed to abound in gold. It was in front of 
the port called Rico^ which subsequently gave its name 
to the island. The road to the town was up a mountain, 
through a dense forest, and so rugged and miry that it 
was the bane of man and beast. It cost more to convey 
provisions and merchandize up this league of mountain 
than it had to bring them from Spain. 

Jnan Ponce, being firmly seated in his government, 
began to carve and portion out the island, to found 
towns, and to distribute the natives into repartimientos, 
for the purpose of exacting their labour. 

The poor Indians soon found the dilTerence between 
the Spaniards as guests, and the Spaniards as masters. 
They were driven to despair by the heavy tasks imposed 
upon them ; for to their free spirits and indolent habits, 
restraint and labour were worse than death. Many of 
the most hardy and daring proposed a general insurrec- 
tion, and a massacre of their oppressors; the great mass, 
however, were deterred by the belief that the Spaniards 
were supernatural beings and could not be killed. 

A shrewd and sceptical cacique named Brayoan, de- 
termined to put their immortality to the test. Hearing 
that a young Spaniard named Salzedo, was passing 
through his lands, he sent a party of his subjects to es- 
cort him, giving them secret instructions how they were 
to act. On coming to a river they took Salzedo on their 
shoulders to carry him across, but, when in the midst of 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 301 

the stream, they let him fall, and, throwing themselves 
upon him, pressed him underwater until he was drowned. 
Then dragging his hody to the shore, and still doubting 
his being dead, they wxpt and howled over him, making 
a thousand apologies for having fallen upon him, and kept 
him so long beneath the surface. 

The cacique Brayoan came to examine the body and 
^ironounced it lifeless; but the Indians, still fearing it 
might possess lurking immortality and ultimately revive, 
kept watch over it for three days, until it showed incon- 
testible signs of putrefaction , 

Being now convinced that the strangers were mortal 
men like themselves, they readily entered into a general 
conspiracy to destroy them.* 

* Hcrrera, c|ecac|. 1, I. viii, c. 13. 



302 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Conspiracy of the Caciques. — Fate of Sotomayor, 

The prime mover of the conspiracy among the natives 
was Agueybana, brother and successor to the hospitable 
cacique of the same name, who had first welcomed the 
Spaniards to the island, and who had fortunately closed 
his eyes in peace, before his native groves were made the 
scenes of violence and oppression. The present cacique 
had fallen within the repartimiento of Don Christoval de 
Sotomayor, and, though treated by that cavalier with 
kindness, could never reconcile his proud spirit to the 
yoke of vassalage. 

Agueybana held secret councils with his confederate 
caciques, in which they concerted a plan of operations. 
As the Spaniards were scattered about in different places, 
it was agreed that, at a certain time, each cacique should 
despatch those within his province. In arranging the 
massacre of those within his own domains, Agueybana 
assigned to one of his inferior caciques the task of sur- 
prising the village of Sotomayor, giving him 3000 war- 
riors for the purpose. He was to assail the village in the 
dead of the night, to set fire to the houses, and to slaughter 
all the inhabitants. He proudly, however, reserved to 
himself the honour of killing Don Christoval with his own 
hand. 

Don Christoval had an unsuspected friend in the very 
midst of his enemies. Being a cavalier of gallant appear- 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 303 

ance and amiable and courteous manners, he had won the 
affections of an Indian princess, the sister of the cacique 
Agueybana. She had overheard enough of the war- 
council of her brother and his warriors to learn that So- 
tomayor was in danger. The life of her lover was more 
precious in her eyes than the safety of her brother 
and her tribe; hastening, therefore, to him, she told 
him all that she knew or feared, and warned him to be 
upon his guard. Sotomayor appears to have been of the 
most easy and incautious nature, void of all evil and deceit 
himself, and slow to suspect any thing of the kind in 
others. He considered the apprehension of the princess, 
as dictated by her fond anxiety, and neglected to profit 
by her warning. 

He received, however, about the same time, informa- 
tion from a different quarter, tending to the same point. 
A Spaniard, versed in the language and customs of the 
natives, had observed a number gathering together one 
evening, painted and decorated as if for battle. Sus- 
pecting some lurking mischief, he stripped and painted 
himself in their manner, and, favoured by the obscurity 
of the night, succeeded in mingling among them undis- 
covered. They were assembled round a fire performing 
one of their mystic war- dances, to the chant of an Areyto 
or legendary ballad. The strophes and responses treated 
of revenge and slaughter, and repeatedly mentioned the 
death of Sotomayor. 

The Spaniard withdrew unpcrceived, and hastened to 
apprise Don Christoval of his danger. The latter still 
made light of these repeated warnings ; revolving them, 
however, in his mind in the stillness of the night, he began 
to feel some uneasiness, and determined to repair in the 
morning to Juan Ponce de Leon, in his strong hold at 



304 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. -£l509. 

Caparra. With his fated heedlessness, or temerity, how- 
ever, he applied to Agueybana for Indians to carry his 
baggage, and departed slightly armed, and accompanied 
by but three Spaniards, although he had to pass through 
close and lonely forests, where he would be at the mercy 
of any treacherous or lurking foe. 

The cacique watched the departure of his intended 
victim and set out shortly afterwards, dogging his steps 
at a distance through the forest, accompanied by a few 
chosen warriors. Agueybana and his party had not pro- 
ceeded far when they met a Spaniard named Juan Gon- 
zalez, who spoke the Indian language. They imme- 
mediately assailed him and wounded him in several 
places. He threw himself at the feet of the cacique, 
imploring his life in the most abject terms. The chief 
spared him for the moment, being eager to make sure of 
Don Christoval. He overtook that incautious cavalier in 
the very heart of the woodland, and stealing silently upon 
him l)urst forth suddenly with his warriors from the 
covert of the thickets, giving the fatal war whcop. Be- 
fore Sotomayor could put himself upon his guard a blow 
from the war club of the cacicpie felled him to the earth, 
when he was quickly despatched by repeated blows. 
The four Spaniards who accompanied him shared his 
fate, being assailed, not merely by the warriors who had 
come in pursuit of them, but by their own Indian guides. 

When Agueybana had glutted his vengeance on this 
unfortunate cavalier, he returned in quest of Juan Gon- 
zalez. The latter, however, had recovered sufliciently 
from his wounds to leave the place where he had been 
assailed, and, dreading the return of the savages, had 
climbed into a tree and concealed himself among the 
branches. From thence, with trembling anxiety he 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 305 

watched his pursuers as they searched all the surrounding 
forest for him. Fortunately they did not think of looking 
up into the trees, but, after beating the bushes for some 
time, gave up the search. Though he saw tliem depart, 
yet he did not venture from his concealment until the 
night had closed ; he then descended from the tree and 
made the best of his way to the residence of certain 
Spaniards, where his wounds were dressed. When this 
was done he waited not to take repose, but repaired ])y a 
circuitous route to Caparra, and informed Juan Ponce de 
Leon of the danger he supposed to be still impending 
over Sotomayor, for he knew not that the enemy had ac- 
complished his death. Juan Ponce immediately sent out 
forty men to his relief. They came to the scene of mas- 
sacre, where they found the body of the unfortunate 
cavalier, partly buried, but with the feet out of the earth. 
In the mean time the savages Iiad accomplished the de- 
struction of the village of Sotomayor. They approached 
it unperceived, through the surrounding forest, and en- 
tering it in the dead of the night, set fire to the straw- 
thatched houses, and attacked the Spaniards as they en- 
deavoured to escape from the flames. 

Several were slain at the onset, but a brave Spaniard, 
named Diego de Salazar, rallied his countrymen, inspirit- 
ed them to beat off the enemy, and succeeded in con- 
ducting the greater part of them, though sorely mangled 
and harassed, to the strong hold of the Governor at 
Caparra. Scarcely had these fugitives gained the for- 
tress, when others came hurrying in from all quarters, 
bringing similar tales of conflagration and massacre. For 
once a general insurrection, so often planned in savage 
life, against the domination of the white men, was 

39 



306 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

crowned with success. All the villages founded by the 
Spaniards had been surprised, about a hundred of their 
inhabitants destroyed, and the survivers driven to take 
refuge in a beleaguered fortress. 



1309.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 307 



CHAPTER V. 

War of Juan Ponce zcith the cacique Agneybana> 

Juan Ponce de Leon might now almost be considered 
a governor without territories and a general without 
soldiers. His villages were smoking ruins, and his whole 
force did not amount to a hundred men, several of whom 
were disabled by their wounds. He had an able and im- 
placable foe in Agueybana, who took the lead of all the 
other caciques, and even sent envoys to the Caribs of the 
neighbouring islands, entreating them to forget all ancient 
animosities and to make common cause against these 
strangers — the deadly enemies of the whole Indian race. 
In the mean time the whole of this wild island was in re- 
bellion, and the forests around the fortress of Caparra, 
rang with the whoops and yells of the savages, the blasts 
of their war conchs, and the stormy roaring of their 
drums. 

Juan Ponce was a staunch and wary old soldier and not 
easily daunted. He remained grimly ensconced within 
his fortress, from whence he despatched messengers in all 
haste to Hispaniola, imploring immediate assistance. In 
the mean time he tasked his wits to divert the enemy and 
to keep them at bay. He divided his little force into 
three bodies of about thirty men each, under the com- 
mand of Diego Salazar, Miguel de Toro, and Luis de 
Anasco, and sent them out alternately to make sudden 
surprises and assaults, to form ambuscades, and to prac- 



308 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

tise the other stratagems of partizan* warfare, which he 
had learnt in early life, in his campaigns against the 
Moors of Granada. 

One of his most eflicient warriors was a dog named 
Berezillo, renowned for courage, strength and sagacity. 
It is said that he could distinguish those of the Indians 
who were allies, from those who were enemies of the Spa- 
niards. To the former he was docile and friendly, to the 
latter fierce and implacable. He was the terror of the 
natives, who were unaccustomed to powerful and fero- 
cious animals, and did more service in this wild warfare, 
than could have been rendered by several soldiers. His 
prowess was so highly appreciated that his master re- 
ceived for him the pay, allowance and share of booty, 
assigned to a cross-bow man, which was the highest 
stipend given.* 

At length the stout old cavalier Juan Ponce was rein- 
forced in his strong hold, by troops from Hispaniola, 
whereupon he sallied forth boldly to take revenge upon 
those who had thus held him in a kind of durance. His 
foe Agueybana was at that time encamped in his own 
territories with more than five thousand warriors, but in 
a negligent unwatchful state, for he knew nothing of the 
reinforcements of the Spaniards, and supposed Juan Ponce 
shut up with his handful of men in Caparra. The old 
soldier, therefore, took him completely by surprise, and 
routed liim with great slaughter. Indeed it is said the 



* This famous clog was killed some years afterwards by a poison- 
ed arrow, as he was swimming in the sea in pursuit of a Carib In- 
dian. He left, however, a numerous progeny and a great name 
behind him; and his merits and exploits were long a favourite 
theme among the Sanish colonists. He was father to the renown- 
ed Leoncico, the faithful dog of Vasco Nuiiez, which resembled him 
in looks and equalled him in prowess. 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. - 309 

Indians were struck with a kind of panic when they saw 
the Spaniards as numerous as ever, notwithstanding the 
number they had massacred. Their belief in their im- 
mortality revived, they fancied that those whom they had 
slain had returned to life, and they despaired of victory 
over beings who could thus arise with renovated vigour 
from the grave. 

Various petty actions and skirmishes afterwards took 
place, in which the Indians were defeated. Agueybana, 
however, disdained this petty warfare, and stirred up his 
countrymen to assemble their forces, and by one grand as- 
sault to decide the fate of themselves and their island. 
Juan Ponce received secret tidings of their intent, and of 
the place where they were assembling. He had at that time 
barely eighty men at his disposal, but then they were 
cased in steel and proof against the weapons of the savages. 
Without stopping to reflect, the high-mettled old cava- 
lier put himself at their head and led them through the 
forest in quest of the foe. 

It was nearly sunset when he came in sight of the In- 
dian camp, and the multitude of warriors assembled there 
made him pause, and almost repent of his temerity. He 
was as shrewd, however, as he was hardy and resolute. 
Ordering some of his men in the advance to skirmish 
with the enemy, he hastily threw up a slight fortification 
with the assistance of the rest. When it was finished he 
withdrew^ his forces into it and ordered them to keep 
merely on the defensive. The Indians made repeated 
attacks, but were as often repulsed with loss. Some of 
the Spaniards, impatient of this covert warfare, would 
sally forth in open field with pike and cross-bow, but 
were called back within the fortification by their wary 
commander. 



310 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1509. 

The cacique Agueybana was enraged at finding his 
host of warriors thus baffled and kept at bay by a mere 
handful of Spaniards. He beheld the night closing in, 
and feared that in the darkness the enemy would escape. 
Summoning his choisest warriors round him, therefore, 
he led the way in a general assault, when, as he approach- 
ed the fortress he received a mortal wound from an ar- 
quebus and fell dead upon the spot. 

The Spaniards were not aware at first of the import- 
ance of the chief whom they had slain. They soon sur- 
mised it, however, from the confusion that ensued among 
the enemy, who bore off the body with great lamenta- 
tions, and made no further attack. 

The wary Juan Ponce took advantage of the evident 
distress of the foe, to draw off his small forces in the 
night, happy to get out of the terrible jeopardy into 
which a rash confidence had betrayed him. Some of his 
fiery spirited officers would have kept the field in spite 
of the overwhelming force of the enemy. ''' No, no,'' 
said the shrewd veteran; ^^ it is better to protract the 
war than to risk all upon a single battle." 

While Juan Ponce de Leon was fighting hard to main- 
tain his sway over the island, his transient dignity was 
overturned by another power, against which the prowess 
of the old soldier was of no avail. King Ferdinand had 
repented of the step he had ill-advisedly taken, in super- 
seding the governor and lieutenant governor, appointed 
by Don Diego Columbus. He became convinced, though 
rather tardily, that it was an infringement of the rights of 
the admiral, and that policy, as well as justice, required 
him to retract it. When Juan Ceron and Miguel Diaz, 
therefore, came prisoners to Spain, he received them 
graciously, conferred many favours on them to atone for 



1509.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3ll 

their rough ejectment from office, and finally, after some 
time, sent them back, empowered to resume the command 
of the island. They were ordered, however, on no ac- 
count to manifest rancour or ill will against Juan Ponce 
de Leon, or to interfere with any property he might 
liold, either in houses, lands, or Indians ; but on the con- 
trary, to cultivate the most friendly understanding with 
him. The king also wrote to the hardy veteran explain- 
ing to him, that this restitution of Ceron and Diaz had 
been determined upon in council, as a mere act of justice 
due to them, but was not intended as a censure upon his 
conduct, and that means should be sought to indemnify 
him for the loss of his command. 

By the time the governor and his lieutenant reached 
the island, Juan Ponce had completed its subjugation. 
The death of the island champion, the brave Agueybana, 
had in fact been a death blow to the natives, and shows 
how much, in savage warfare, depends upon a single 
chieftain. They never made head of war afterwards ; but, 
dispersing among their forests and mountains, fell gradu- 
ally under the power of the Spaniards. Their subsequent 
fate was like that of their neighbours of Hayti. They 
were employed in the labour of the mines, and in other 
rude toils so repugnant to their nature that they sank 
beneath them, and, in a little while, almost all the abori- 
ginals disappeared from the island. 



312 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1510. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Juan Ponce de Leon hears of a wonderful country and miraculous 

fountain. 

Juan Ponce de Leon resigned the command of Porto 
Rico with tolerable grace. The loss of one wild island 
and wild government was of little moment, when there 
was a new world to be shared out, where a bold soldier 
like himself, with sword and buckler, might readily carve 
out new fortunes for himself. Beside, he had now 
amassed wealth to assist him in his plans, and, like many 
of the early discoverers, his brain was teeming with the 
most romantic enterprises. He had conceived the idea 
that there was yet a third world to be discovered, and he 
hoped to be the first to reach its shores, and thus to se- 
cure a renown equal to that of Columbus. 

While cogitating these things, and considering which 
way he should strike forth in the unexplored regions 
around him, he met with some old Indians who gave him 
tidings of a country which promised, not merely to satisfy 
the cravings of his ambition, but to realize the fondest 
dreams of the poets. They assured him that, far to the 
north, there existed a land abounding in gold and in all 
manner of delights ; but, above all, possessing a river of 
such wonderful virtue that whoever bathed in it would 
be restored to youth ! They added, that in times past, 
before the arrival of the Spaniards, a large party of the 
natives of Cuba had departed northward in search of 



1510.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 313 

this happy land and this river of life, and, having never 
returned, it was concluded that they were flourishing in 
renovated youth, detained by the pleasures of that en- 
chanting country. 

Here was the dream of the Alchymist realized ! one 
had but to find this gifted land and revel in the enjoy- 
ment of boundless riches and perennial youth! nay, 
some of the ancient Indians declared that it was not ne- 
cessary to go so far in quest of these rejuvenating waters, 
for that, in a certain island of the Bahama group, called 
Bimini, which lay far out in the ocean, there was a foun- 
tain possessing the same marvellous and inestimable quali- 
ties. 

Juan Ponce de Leon listened to these tales with fond 
credulity. He was advancing in life, and the ordinary 
term of existence seemed insuflicient for his mighty 
plans. Could he but plunge into this marvellous fountain 
or gifted river, and come out with his battered, war- 
worn body restored to the strength and freshness and 
suppleness of youth, and his head still retaining the wis- 
dom and knowledge of age, what enterprises might he 
not accomplish in the additional course of vigorous years 
insured to him ! 

It may seem incredible, at the present day, that a man 
of years and experience could yield any faith to a story 
which resembles the wild fiction of an Arabian tale ; but 
the wonders and novelties breaking upon the world in 
that age of discovery almost realised the illusions of fa- 
ble, and the imaginations of the Spanish voyagers had 
become so heated that they were capable of any stretch 
of credulity. 

So fully persuaded was the worthy old cavalier of the 
existence of the region described to him, that he fitted 

40 



314 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

out three ships at his own expense to prosecute the dis- 
covery, nor had he any difficulty in finding adventurers 
in abundance ready to cruise with him in quest of this 
fairy-land,* 



* It was not the credulous minds of voyagers and adventurers 
alone that were heated by these Indian traditions and romantic fa- 
bles. Men of learning and eminence were likewise beguiled by 
them : witness the following extract from the second decade of 
Peter Martyr, addressed to Leo X., then Bishop of Rome: — 

"Among the islands on the north side of Hispaniola there is 
one about 325 leagues distant, as they say which have searched 
the same, in the which is a continual spring of running water, of 
such marvellous virtue that the water thereof being drunk, per- 
haps with some diet, maketh olde men young again. And here I 
must make protestation to your holiness not to think this to be 
said lightly or rashly, for they have so spread this rumour for a 
truth throughout all the court, that not only all the people, but also 
many of them whom wisdom or fortune hath divided from the 
common sort, think it to be true ; but, if you will ask my opinion 
herein, I will answer that I will not attribute so great power to 
nature, but that God hath no lesse reserved this prerogative to him- 
self than to search the hearts of men," &c. — P. Martyr, D, 2. c. 
10, Lok's translation. 



1512.] JUAN POMCE DE LEON. 315 



CHAPTER VII. 

Cruise of Juan Ponce de Leon in search of the Foimiain of Youth. 

(1512.) 

It was on the third of March, 1512, that Juaii Ponce 
sailed with his three ships from the Port of St. Germain 
in the island of Porto Rico. He kept for some distance 
along the coast of Hispaniola, and then, stretching away 
to the northward, made for the Bahama islands, and soon 
fell in with the first of the group. He was favoured 
witli propitious weather and tranquil seas, and glided 
smoothly with wind and current along that verdant ar- 
chipelago, visiting one island after another, until, on the 
fourteenth of the month, he arrived at Guanahani, or St. 
Salvador's, where Christopher Columbus had first put his 
foot on the shores of the new world. His inquiries for 
the island of Bimini were all in vain, and as to the foun- 
tain of youth, he may have drank of every fountain, and 
river, and lake, in the archipelago, even to the salt pools 
of Turk's island, without being a whit the younger. 

Still he was not discouraged; but, having repaired his 
ships, he again put to sea and shaped his course to the 
north-west. On Sunday, the 27th of March, he came 
in sight of what he supposed to be an island, but was 
prevented from landing by adverse weather. He con- 
tinued hovering about it for several days, buffeted by 
the elements, until, in the night of the second of April, 



316 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

he succeeded in coming to anchor under the land in 
thirty degrees eight minutes of latitude. The whole 
country was in the fresh bloom of spring; the trees 
were gay with blossoms, and the fields covered with 
flowers; from which circumstance, as well as from hav- 
ing discovered it on Palm Sunday, (Pascua Florida,) 
he gave it the name of Florida, which it retains to the 
present day. The Indian name of the country was 
Cautio.* 

Juan Ponce landed, and took possession of the country 
in the name of the Castilian Sovereigns. He afterwards 
continued for several weeks ranging the coasts of this 
flowery land, and struggling against the gulf-stream and 
the various currents which sweep it. He doubled Cape 
Canaveral, and reconnoitered the southern and eastern 
shores without suspecting that this was a part of Terra 
Firma. In all his attempts to explore the country, he 
met with resolute and iinplacable hostility on the part of 
the natives, who appeared to be a fierce and warlike 
race. He was disappointed also in his hopes of finding 
gold, nor did any of the rivers or fountains which he ex- 
amined possess the rejuvenating virtue. Convinced, 
therefore, that this was not the promised land of Indian 
tradition, he turned his prow homeward on the 14th 
of June, with the intention in the vyay of making one 
more attempt to find the island of Bimini. 

In the outset of his return he discovered a group of 
islets abounding with sea-fowl and marine animals. On 
one of them his sailors, in the course of a single night, 
caught one hundred and seventy turtles, and might have 
taken many more, had they been so inclined. They 

* Henera, Hist. Iiul. d. 1. 1. ix, c. 10. 



1512.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 317 

likewise took fourteen sea wolves, and killed a vast quan- 
tity of pelicans and other birds. To this group Juan 
Ponce gave the name of the Tortiigas, or turtles, which 
they still retain. 

Proceeding in his cruise, he touched at another group 
of islets near the Lucayos, to which he gave the name of 
La Vieja, or the Old Woman group, because he found 
no inhabitant there but one old Indian woman.* This 
ancient sybil he took on board his ship to give him infor- 
mation about the labyrinth of islands into which he was 
entering, and perhaps he could not have had a more suit- 
able guide in the eccentric (piest he was making. Not- 
withstanding her pilotage, however, he was exceedingly 
baffled and perplexed in his return voyage among the 
Bahama islands, for he was forcing his way as it were 
against the course of nature, and encountering the cur- 
rents which sweep westward along these islands, and the 
trade- wind which accompanies them. For a long time 
he struggled with all kinds of difficulties and dangers; 
and was obliged to remain upwards of a month in one of 
the islands to repair the damages which his ship had suf- 
fered in a storm. 

Disheartened at length by the perils and trials with 
which nature seemed to have beset the approach to 
Bimini, as to some fairy island in romance, he gave up 
tlie quest in person, and sent in his place a trusty cap- 
tain, Juan Perez de Ortubia, who departed in one of the 
other ships, guided by the experienced old woman of the 
isles, and by another Indian. As to Juan Ponce, he 
made the best of his way back to Porto Rico, where he 
arrived infinitely poorer in purse and wrinkled in brow, 

* Herrcra, d. 1. 1. ix. 



318 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1512. 

by this cruise after inexhaustible riches and perpetual 
youth. 

He had not been long in port when his trusty envoy, 
Juan Perez, likewise arrived. Guided by the sage old 
woman, he had succeeded in finding the long-sought-for 
Bimini. He described it as being large, verdant, and 
covered with beautiful groves. There were crystal 
springs and limped streams in abundance, which kept 
the island in perpetual verdure, but none that could re- 
store to an old man the vernal greenness of his youth. 

Thus ended the romantic expedition of Juan Ponce de 
Leon. Like many other pursuits of a chimera, it termi- 
nated in the acquisition of a substantial good. Though 
he had failed in finding the fairy fountain of youth, he 
had discovered in place of it the important country of 
Florida.* 



*The belief of the existence, in Florida, of a river like that sought 
by Juan Ponce, was long prevalent among the Indians of Cuba, and 
the caciques were anxious to discover it. That a party of the na- 
tives of Cuba once went in search of it, and remained there, ap- 
pears to be a fact, as their descendants were afterwards to be traced 
among the people of Florida. Las Casas says, that even in his days, 
many persisted in seeking this mystery, and some thought that the 
river was no other than that called the Jordan, at the point of St. 
Helena; without considering that the name was given to it by the 
Spaniards in the year 1520, when they discovered the land of 
Chicora. 



1512.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 319 



CHAPTER VIIL 

Expedition of Juan Police against the Caribs — His Death, — (1514.) 

Juan Ponce de Leon now repaired to Spain to make 
a report of his voyage to king Ferdinand. The hardy 
old cavalier experienced much raillery from the witlings 
of the court on account of his visionary voyage, though 
many wise men had been as credulous as himself at the 
outset. The king, however, received him with great 
favour, and conferred on him the title of Adelantado of 
Bimini and Florida, which last was as yet considered an 
island. Permission was also granted him to recruit men 
either in Spain or in the colonies for a settlement in Flo- 
rida ; but he deferred entering on his command for the 
present, being probably discouraged and impoverished 
by the losses in his last expedition, or finding a difficulty 
in enlisting adventurers. At length another enterprise 
presented itself. The Caribs had by this time become a 
terror to the Spanish inhabitants of many of the islands, 
making descents upon the coasts and carrying off cap- 
tives, who it was supposed were doomed to be devoured 
by these cannibals. So frequent were their invasions of 
the island of Porto Rico, that it was feared they would 
ultimately oblige the Spaniards to abandon it. 

At length king Ferdinand, In 1514, ordered that three 
ships, well armed and manned, should be fitted out in 
Seville, destined to scour the islands of the Caribs, and 
to free the seas from those cannibal marauders. The 



320 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1315. 

command of the Armada was given to Juan Ponce de 
Leon, from his knowledge in Indian warfare, and his 
varied and rough experience which had mingled in him 
the soldier with the sailor. He was instructed in the 
first place to assail the Caribs of those islands most con- 
tiguous and dangerous to Porto Rico, and then to make 
war on those of the coast of Terra Firma, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Carthagena. He was afterwards to take the 
captaincy of Porto Rico, and to attend to the repartimi- 
entos or distributions of the Indians in conjunction with 
a person to be appointed by Diego Columbus. 

The enterprise suited the soldier-like spirit of Juan 
Ponce de Leon, and the gallant old cavalier set sail full 
of confidence in January, 1515, and steered direct for 
the Caribbees, with a determination to give a wholesome 
castigation to the whole savage Achipelago. Arriving at 
the island of Guadaloupe, he cast anchor, and sent men 
on shore for wood and water, and women to wash the 
clothing of the crews, with a party of soldiers to mount 
guard. 

Juan Ponce had not been as wary as usual, or he had 
to deal with savages unusually adroit in warfare. While 
the people were scattered carelessly on shore, the Caribs 
rushed forth from an ambuscade, killed the greater part 
of the men, and carried off the women to the mountains. 

This blow at the very outset of his vaunted expedition 
sank deep into the heart of Juan Ponce, and put an end 
to all his military excitement. Humbled and mortified, 
he set sail for the island of Porto Rico, where he relin- 
quished all further prosecution of the enterprise, under 
pretext of ill health, and gave the command of the 
squadron to a captain named Zuniga; but it is surmised 
that his raaladv was not so much of the flesh as of the 



1521.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 321 

spirit. He remained in Porto Rico as governor; but, 
having grown testy and irritable through vexations and 
disappointments, he gave great offence, and caused much 
contention on the island by positive and strong-handed 
measures, in respect to the distributions of the Indians. 

He continued for several years in that island, in a state 
of growling repose, until the brilliant exploits of Hernando 
Cortes, which threatened to eclipse the achievements of 
all the veteran discoverers, roused his dormant spirit. 

Jealous of being cast in the shade in his old days, he 
determined to sally forth on one more expedition. He 
had heard that Florida, which he had discovered, and 
which he had hitherto considered a mere island, was part 
of Terra Firma, possessing vast and unknown regions in 
its bosom. If so, a grand field of enterprise lay before 
him, wherein he might make discoveries and conquests 
to rival, if not surpass, the far-famed conquest of Mexico. 

Accordingly in the year 1521, he fitted out two ships 
at the island of Porto Rico, and embarked almost the 
whole of his property in the undertaking. His voyage 
was toilsome and tempestuous, but at length he arrived 
at the wished-for land. He made a descent upon the 
coast with a great part of his men, but the Indians sallied 
forth with unusual valour to defend their shores. A 
bloody battle ensued, several of the Spaniards were slain, 
and Juan Ponce was wounded by an arrow, in the thigh. 
He was borne on board his ship, and finding himself dis- 
abled for further action, set sail for Cuba, where he ar- 
rived ill in body and dejected in heart. 

He was of an age when there is no longer prompt and 
healthful reaction either mental or corporeal. The irri- 
tations of humiliated pride and disappointed hope, exas- 
perated the fever of his wound, and he died soon after 

41 



322 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1521. 

his arrival at the island. "Thus fate," says one of the 
quaint old Spanish writers, "delights to reverse the 
schemes of man. The discovery that Juan Ponce flattered 
himself was to lead to a means of perpetuating his life, 
had the ultimate effect of hastening his death." 

It may be said, however, that he has at least attained 
the shadow of his desire, since, though disappointed in ex- 
tending the natural term of his existence, his discovery 
has ensured a lasting duration to his name. 

The following epitaph was inscribed upon his tomb, 
which does justice to the warrior qualities of the stout old 
cavalier. 

Mole sub hac fortis requiescat ossa Leonis, 
Qui vicit factis nomina magna suis. 

It has thus been paraphrased in Spanish by the Licen- 
tiate Juan de Castellanos. 

Aqueste lugar estrecho 
Es sepulchre del varon, 
Que en el nombre fue Leon, 
Y mucho mas en el hecho. 

"In this sepulchre rest the bones of a man, who was a 
lion by name, and still more by nature." 



APPENDIX. 



1828.] APPENDIX. 325 



A VISIT TO PALOS. 






[The following narrative was actually commenced, by the author 
of this work, as a letter to a friend, but unexpectedly swelled to its 
present size. He has been induced to insert it here from the idea 
that many will feel the same curiosity to know something of the 
present state of Palos and its inhabitants that led him to make the 
journey.] 



Seinlle, 1828. 

Since I last wrote to you I have made, what I may 
term, an American Pilgrimage, to visit the little port of 
Palos in Andalusia, where Columbus fitted out his ships, 
and whence he sailed for the discovery of the New 
World. Need I tell you how deeply interesting and 
gratifying it has been to me? I had long meditated this 
excursion as a kind of pious, and if I may so say, filial 
duty of an American, and ray intention was quickened 
when I learnt that many of the edifices mentioned in the 
history of Columbus still remained in nearly the same 
state in which they existed at the time of his sojourn at 
Palos, and that the descendants of the intrepid Pinzons, 
who aided him with ships and money, and sailed with 
him in the great voyage of discovery, still flourished in 
the neighbourhood. 

The very evening before my departure from Seville 
on the excursion, I heard that there was a young gentle- 



326 APPENDIX. [1828. 

man of the Pinzon family studying law in the city. I got 
introduced to him, and found him of most prepossessing ap- 
pearance and manners. He gave me a letter of introduc- 
tion to his father, Don Juan Fernandez Pinzon, resident 
of Moguer, and the present head of the family. 

As it was in the middle of August, and the weather 
intensely hot, I hired a calesa for the journey. This is 
a two-wheeled carriage, resembling a cabriolet, but of the 
most primitive and rude construction ; the harness is pro- 
fusely ornamented with brass, and the horse's head de- 
corated with tufts and tassals and dangling bobs of scarlet 
and yellow worsted. I had, for calasero, a tall, long- 
legged Andalusian, in short jacket, little round-crowned 
hat, breeches decorated with buttons from the hip to the 
knees, and a pair of russet leather bottinas or spatter- 
dashes. He was an active fellow, though uncommonly 
taciturn for an Andalusian, and strode along beside his 
horse, rousing him occasionally to greater speed by a loud 
malediction or a hearty thwack of his cudgel. 

In this style I set off late in the day to avoid the noon- 
tide heat, and after ascending the lofty range of hills 
that borders the great valley of the Guadalquiver, and 
having a rough ride among their heights, I descended 
about twilight into one of those vast, silent, melancholy 
plains, frequent in Spain, where I beheld no other signs 
of life than a roaming flock of bustards, and a distant herd 
of cattle, guarded by a solitary herdsman, who, with 
a long pike planted in the earth, stood motionless in 
the midst of the dreary landscape, resembling an Arab 
of the desert. The night had somewhat advanced 
when we stopped to repose for a few hours at a 
solitary venta or inn, if it might so be called, being 
nothing more than a vast low-roofed stable, divided into 



1828.] APPENDIX. 327 

several compartments for the reception of the troops 
of mules and arrieros (or carriers) who carry on the in- 
ternal trade of Spain. Accommodation for the traveller 
there was none — not even for a traveller so easily accom- 
modated as myself. The landlord had no food to give me, 
and as to a bed, he had none but a horse cloth, on which 
his only child, a boy of eight years old, lay naked on the 
earthen floor. Indeed the heat of the weather and the 
fumes from the stables made the interior of the hovel in- 
supportable, so I was fain to bivouac on my cloak on the 
pavement at the door of the venta, where, on waking 
after two or three hours of sound sleep, I found a contra- 
bandista (or smuggler) snoring beside me, with his blun- 
derbuss on his arm. 

I resumed ray journey before break of day, and had 
made several leagues by ten o'clock, when we stopped to 
breakfast, and to pass the sultry hours of midday in a 
large village, from whence we departed about four o'clock, 
and, after passing through the same kind of solitary 
country, arrived just after sunset at Moguer. This little 
city (for at present it is a city) is situated about a league 
from Palos, of which place it has gradually absorbed all 
the respectable inhabitants, and, among the number, 
the whole family of the Pinzons. 

So remote is this little place from the stir and bustle of 
travel, and so destitute of the show and vainglory of this 
world, that my calesa as it rattled and jingled along the 
narrow and ill-paved streets caused a great sensation ; the 
children shouted and scampered along by its side, admi- 
ring its splendid trappings of brass and worsted, and 
gazing with reverence at the important stranger who 
came in so gorgeous an equipage. 

I drove up to the principal posada, the landlord of 



328 APPENDIX. [1828. 

which was at the door. He was one of the very civilest 
men in the v/orld^ and disposed to do every thing in his 
power to make me comfortable ; there was only one diffi- 
culty, he had neither bed nor bed-room in his house. In 
fact, it was a mere venta for muleteers, who are accus- 
tomed to sleep on the ground with their mule cloths for 
beds and pack-saddles for pillows. It was a hard case, 
but there was no better posada in the place. Few people 
travel for pleasure or curiosity in these out-of-the-way 
parts of Spain, and those of any note are generally re- 
ceived into private houses. I had travelled sufficiently 
in Spain to find out that a bed, after all, is not an article 
of indispensable necessity, and was about to bespeak some 
quiet corner where I might spread my cloak, when for- 
tunately the landlord's wife came forth. She could not 
have a more obliging disposition than her husband, but 
then — God bless the women! — they always know how to 
carry their good wishes into effect. In a little while a 
small room, about ten feet square, that had formed a 
thoroughfare between the stables and a kind of shop or 
bar room, was cleared of a variety of lumber, and I was 
assured that a bed should be put up there for me. From 
the consultations I saw my hostess holding with some of 
her neighbour gossips, L fancied the bed was to be a kind 
of piece-meal contribution among them for the credit of 
the house. 

As soon as I could change my dress, I commenced the 
historical researches which were the object of my jour- 
ney, and inquired for the abode of Don Juan Fernandez 
Pinzon. My obliging landlord himself volunteered to 
conduct me thither, and I set off full of animation at the 
thoughts of meeting with the lineal representative of one 
of the coadjutors of Columbus. 



1828.] APPENDIX. 329 

A short walk brought us to the house, which was most 
respectable in its appearance, indicating easy, if not 
affluent circumstances. The door, as is customary in 
Spanish villages, during summer, stood wide open. We 
entered with the usual salutation or rather summons, 
^^Ave Maria!" A trim Andalusian handmaid answered 
to the call, and, on our inquiring for the master of the 
house, led the way across a little patio or court, in the 
centre of the edifice, cooled by a fountain surrounded 
by shrubs and flowers, to a back court or terrace, like- 
wise set out with flowers, where Don Juan Fernandez 
was seated with his family, enjoying the serene evening 
in the open air. 

I was much pleased with his appearance. He was a 
venerable old gentleman, tall and somewhat thin, with 
fair complexion and grey hair. He received me with 
great urbanity, and on reading the letter from his son, 
appeared struck with surprise to find I had come quite 
to Moguer, merely to visit the scene of the embarkation 
of Columbus ; and still more so on my telling him, that 
one of my leading objects of curiosity was his own 
family connexion ; for it would seem that the worthy ca- 
valier had troubled, his head but little about the enter- 
prizes of his ancestors. 

I now took my seat in the domestic circle and soon felt 
myself quite at home, for there is generally a frankness 
in the hospitality of Spaniards that soon puts a stranger 
at his ease beneath their roof. The wife of Don Juan 
Fernandez was extremely amiable and affable, possessing 
much of that natural aptness for which the Spanish wo- 
men are remarkable. In the course of conversation 
with them I learnt, that Don Juan Fernandez, who is 
seventy- two years of age, is the eldest of five brothers, 

42 



330 APPENDIX. [1828. 

all of whom are married, have numerous offspring, and 
live in Moguer and its vicinity, in nearly the same con- 
dition and rank of life as at the time of the discovery. 
This agreed with what I had pre%"iously heard, respecting 
the families of the discoverers. Of Columbus no lineal 
and direct descendant exists; his was an exotic stock 
that never took deep and lasting root in the country : but 
the race of the Pinzons contiipieN tn thrive and multiplv 
in its native soil. 

While I was yet convei*sing, a gentleman entei*ed. who 
was introduced to me as Don Luis Fernandez Pinzon. 
the youngest of the brothers. He appeared to be be- 
tween fifty and sixty years of age, somewhat robust, witli 
fair complexion and grey hair, and a frank and manly 
deportment. He is the only one of the present genera- 
tion that has followed the ancient profession of the 
family : having served with great applause as an officer 
of the royal navy, from which he retired, on his mar- 
riage, about twenty two years since. He is the one, 
also, who takes the greatest interest and pride in the his- 
torical honouj"s of his house, carefully preserving all the 
legends and documents of the achievements and distinc- 
tions of his family, a manuscript volume of which he 
lent me for my inspection. 

Don Juan now expressed a wish that, during my resi- 
dence in Moguer. I would make his house my home. I 
endeavoured to excuse myself, alleging, that the good 
people at the posada had been at such extraordinarv 
trouble in preparing quarters for me, that I did not like 
to disappoint them. The worthy old gentleman under- 
took to arrange all this, and, while supper was preparing, 
we walked together to the posada. I found that my 
obliging host and hostess had indeed exerted themselves 



1828.] APPENDIX. 331 

to ail iiucommoii degree. An old ricketty table had been 
spread out in a corner of the little room as a bedstead^ on 
top of which was propped up a grand cama de luxo, or 
state bed. which appeared to be the admiration of the 
house. I could not, for the soul of mc^ appear to under- 
value what the poor ])eople liad prepared with such 
hearty good will, and considered such a triumph of art 
and luxury: so I again entreated Don Juan to dispense 
with my sleeping at his house, promising most faithfully 
to make my meals there while I should stay at Moguer, 
and as the old gentleman understood my motives for de- 
clining his invitation, and felt a good humoured sympa- 
thy in them, we readily arranged the matter. I returned 
therefore with Don Juan to his house, and supped with 
his family. During the repast a plan was agreed upon 
for my visit to Palos, and to the convent La Rabida, in 
which Don Juan volunteered to accompany me and be 
my guide, and the following day was allotted to the ex- 
pedition. We were to breakfast at a hacienda, or country 
seat, which he possessed in the vicinity of Palos, in the 
midst of his vineyards, and were to dine there on our 
return from the convent. These arrangements being 
made, we parted for the night: I returned to the posada 
highly gratified with my visit, and slept soundly in the 
extraordinary bed which, 1 may almost say, had been in- 
vented for my accommodation. 

On the following morning, bright and early, Don Juan 
Fernandez and myself set off in the calesa for Palos. 1 
felt apprehensive at first, that the kind-hearted old gen- 
tleman, in his anxiety to oblige, had left his bed at too 
early an hour, and was exposing himself to fiitigues un- 
suited to his age. He laughed at the idea, and assured 
me that he was an early riser, and accustomed to all 



332 APPENDIX. [1828. 

kinds of exercise on horse and foot, being a keen sports - 
man, and frequently passing days together among the 
mountains on shooting expeditions, taking with him ser- 
vants, horses, and provisions, and living in a tent. He 
appeared, in fact, to be of an active habit, and to pos- 
sess a youthful vivacity of spirit. His cheerful disposi- 
tion rendered our morning drive extremely agreeable ; 
his urbanity was shown to every one whom we met on the 
road ; even the common peasant was saluted by him with 
the appellation of cahallero, a mark of respect ever 
gratifying to the poor but proud Spaniard, when yielded 
by a superior. 

As the tide was out we drove along the flat grounds 
bordering the Tinto. The river was on our right, while 
on our left was a range of hills, jutting out into promon- 
tories, one beyond the other, and covered with vineyards 
and fig trees. The weather was serene, the air soft and 
balmy, and the landscape of that gentle kind calculated 
to put one in a quiet and happy humour. We passed 
close by the skirts of Palos, and drove to the hacienda, 
which is situated at some little distance from the village, 
between it and the river. The house is a low stone 
building, well white- washed, and of great length; one 
end being fitted up as a summer residence, with saloons, 
bed-rooms, and a domestic chapel ; and the other as a 
bodega or magazine for the reception of the wine pro- 
duced on the estate. 

The house stands on a hill, amidst vineyards, which are 
supposed to cover a part of the scite of the ancient town 
of Palos, now shrunk to a miserable village. Beyond 
these vineyards, on the crest of a distant hill, are seen the 
white walls of the convent of La Rabida rising above a 
dark wood of pine trees. 



1828.] APPENDIX. 333 

Below the hacienda flows the river Tinto, on which 
Columbus embarked. It is divided by a low tongue of 
land;, or rather the sand bar of Saltes, from the river 
Odiel, with which it soon mingles its waters, and flows on 
to the ocean. Beside this sand bar, where the channel 
of the river runs deep, the squadron of Columbus was 
anchored, and from hence he made sail on the morning of 
his departure. 

The soft breeze that was blowing scarcely ruffled the 
surface of this beautiful river; two or three picturesque 
barks, called mysticks, with long latine sails were gliding 
down it. A little aid of the imagination might suffice to 
picture them as the light caravels of Columbus, sallying 
forth on their eventful expedition, while the distant bells 
of the town of Huelva, which were ringing melodiously, 
might be supposed as cheering the voyagers with a fare- 
well peal. 

I cannot express to you what were my feelings on tread- 
ing the shore which had once been animated by the bus- 
tle of departure, and whose sands had been printed by 
the last footstep of Columbus. The solemn and sublime 
nature of the event that had followed, together with the 
fate and fortunes of those concerned in it, filled the mind 
with vague yet melancholy ideas. It was like viewing 
the silent and empty stage of some great drama when 
all the actors had departed. The very aspect of the 
landscape, so tranquilly beautiful, had an effect upon me, 
and as I paced the deserted shore by the side of a des- 
cendant of one of the discoverers, I felt my heart swell- 
ing with emotions and my eyes filling with tears. 

What surprised me was to find no semblance of a sea- 
port ; there was neither wharf nor landing-place — nothing 
but a naked river bank, with the hulk of a ferry-boat, 



334 APPENDIX. [1828. 

which I was told carried passengers to Huelva, lying 
high and dry on the sands, deserted by the tide. Palos, 
though it has doubtless dwindled away from its former 
size, can never have been important as to extent and po- 
pulation. If it possessed warehouses on the beach, they 
have disappeared. It is at present a mere village of the 
poorest kind, and lies nearly a quarter of a mile from the 
river, in a hollow among hills. It contains a few hundred 
inhabitants, who subsist principally by labouring in the 
fields and vineyards. Its race of merchants and mariners 
are extinct. There are no vessels belonging to the place, 
nor any show of traffic, excepting at the season of fruit 
and wine, when a few mysticks and other light barks 
anchor in the river to collect the produce of the neigh- 
bourhood. The people are totally ignorant, and it is pro- 
bable that the greater part of them scarce know even the 
name of America. Such is the place from whence sal- 
lied forth the enterprise for the discovery of the western 
world ! 

We were now summoned to breakfast in a little saloon 
of the hacienda. The table was covered with natural 
luxuries produced upon the spot — fine purple and mus- 
catel grapes from the adjacent vineyard, delicious melons 
from the garden, and generous wines made on the estate. 
The repast was heightened by the genial manners of my 
hospitable host, who appeared to possess the most envi- 
able cheerfulness of spirit and simplicity of heart. 

x\fter breakfast we set off in the calesa to visit the Con- 
vent of La Rabida, which is about half a league distant. 
The road, for a part of the way, lay through the vine- 
yards, and was deep and sandy. The calasero had been 
at his wit's end to conceive what motive a stranger like 
myself, apparently travelling for mere amusement, could 



1828.] APPENDIX. 335 

have in coming so far to see so miserable a place as Palos, 
which he set down as one of the very poorest places in 
the whole world; but this additional toil and struggle 
through deep sand to visit the old Convent of La Rabida, 
completed his confusion — " Hombre!'' exclaimed he, 
" es una ruina ! no hay mas que dos frailes !" — " Zounds ! 
why it's a ruin! there are only two friars there!" Don 
Juan laughed, and told him that I had come all the way 
from Seville precisely to see that old ruin and those two 
friars. The calasero made the Spaniard's last reply 
when he is perplexed — he shrugged his shoulders and 
crossed himself. 

After ascending a hill and passing through the skirts of 
a straggling pine wood, we arrived in front of the con- 
vent. It stands in a bleak and solitary situation, on the 
l)row of a rocky height or promontory, overlooking to the 
west a wide range of sea and land, bounded by the fron- 
tier mountains of Portugal, about eight leagues distant. 
The convent is shut out from a view of the vineyard of 
Palos by the gloomy forest of pines which I have men- 
tioned, which cover the promontory to the east, and 
darken the whole landscape in that direction. 

There is nothing remarkable in the architecture of the 
convent; part of it is Gothic, but the edifice, having been 
frequently repaired, and being whitewashed, according 
to a universal custom in Andalusia, inherited from the 
Moors, it has not that venerable aspect which might be 
expected from its antiquity. 

We alighted at the gate where Columbus, when a poor 
pedestrian, a stranger in the land, asked bread and water 
for his child ! As long as the convent stands, this must be 
a spot calculated to awaken the most thrilling interest. 
The gate remains apparently in nearly the same state a.s 



336 APPENDIX. [1828. 

at the time of his visit, but there is no longer a porter at 
hand to administer to the wants of the wayfarer. The 
door stood wide open, and admitted us into a small court 
yard. From thence we passed through a Gothic portal 
into the chapel, without seeing a human being. We 
then traversed two interior cloisters, equally vacant and 
silent, and bearing a look of neglect and dilapidation. 
From an open window we had a peep at what had once 
been a garden, but that had also gone to ruin ; the walls 
were broken and thrown down ; a few shrubs, and a 
scattered fig-tree or two were all the traces of cultivation 
that remained. We passed through the long dormitories, 
but the cells were shut up and abandoned; we saw no 
living thing except a solitary cat stealing across a distant 
corridor, which fled in a panic at the unusual sight of 
strangers. At length, after patrolling nearly the whole 
of the empty building to the echo of our own footsteps, 
we came to where the door of a cell, being partly open, 
gave us the sight of a monk within, seated at a table 
writing. He rose and received us with much civility, 
and conducted us to the superior, who was reading in an 
adjacent cell. They were both rather young men, and, 
together with a noviciate and a lay-brother, who officiated 
as cook, formed the whole community of the convent. 

Don Juan Fernandez communicated to them the object 
of my visit, and my desire also to inspect the archives 
of the convent to find if there was any record of the so- 
journ of Columbus. They informed us that the archives 
had been entirely destroyed by the French. The younger 
monk, however, who had perused them, had a vague re- 
collection of various particulars concerning the transac- 
tions of Columbus at Palos, his visit to the convent, and 
the sailing of his expedition. From all that he cited, 



1828.] APPENDIX. 337 

however, it appeared to me that all the iiiforniation on 
the subject contained in the archives, had been extracted 
from Herrera and other well known authors. The monk 
was talkative and eloquent, and soon diverged from the 
subject of Columbus, to one which he considered of infi- 
nitely greater importance ; — the miraculous image of the 
Virgin possessed by their convent, and known by the 
name of "Our Lady of La Rabida." He gave us a his- 
tory of the wonderful way in which the image had been 
found buried in the earth, where it had lain hidden for 
ages, since the time of the conquest of Spain by the 
Moors; the disputes between the convent and different 
places in the neighbourhood for the possession of it; the 
marvellous protection it extended to the adjacent country, 
especially in preventing all madness, either in man or dog, 
for this malady was anciently so prevalent in this place as 
to gain it the appellation of La Rabia, by which it was 
originally called ; a name which, thanks to the beneficent 
influence of the Virgin, it no longer merited or retained. 
Such are the legends and reliques with which every 
convent in Spain is enriched, which are zealously cried 
up by the monks, and devoutly credited by the populace. 

Twice a year on the festival of our Lady of La Rabida, 
and on that of the patron saint of the order, the solitude 
and silence of the convent are interrupted by the intru- 
sion of a swarming multitude, composed of the inhabitants 
of Moguer, of Huelva, and the neighbouring plains and 
mountains. The open esplanade in front of the edifice 
resembles a fair, the adjacent forest teems with the motley 
throng, and the image of our Lady of La Rabida is borne 
forth in triumphant procession. 

While the friar was thus dilating upon the merits and 
renown of the image, I amused myself with those day 

43 



338 APPENDIX. 1828.] 

dreams, or conjurings of the imagination to wliich I am 
a little given. As the internal arrangements of convents 
are apt to be the same from age to age, I pictured to my- 
self this chamber as the same inhabited by the guardian, 
Juan Perez de Marchena at the time of the visit of 
Columbus. Why might not the old and ponderous table 
before me be the very one on which he displayed his con- 
jectural maps, and expounded his theory of a western 
route to India? It required but another stretch of the 
imagination to assemble the little conclave around the 
table; Juan Perez the friar, Garci Fernandez the physi- 
cian, and Martin Alonzo Pinzon the bold navigator, all 
listening with wrapped attention to Columbus, or to the 
tale of some old seaman of Palos, about islands seen in the 
western parts of the ocean. 

The friars, as far as their poor means and scanty know- 
ledge extended, were disposed to do every thing to pro- 
mote the object of my visit. They showed us all parts 
of the convent, which, however, has little to boast of, ex- 
cepting the historical associations connected with it. The 
library was reduced to a few volumes, chiefly on eccle- 
siastical subjects, piled promiscuously in the corner 
of a vaulted chamber, and covered with dust. The 
chamber itself was curious, being the most ancient part 
of the edifice, and supposed to have formed part of a 
temple in the time of the Romans. 

We ascended to the roof of the convent to enjoy the 
extensive prospect it commands. Immediately below the 
promontory on which it is situated, runs a narrow but 
tolerably deep river, called the Domingo Rubio, which 
empties itself into the Tinto. It is the opinion of Don 
Luis Fernandez Pinzon, that the ships of Columbus were 
careened and fitted out in this river, as it affords better 



1828.] APPENDIX. 339 

shelter than the Tinto^ and its shores are not so shallow. 
A lonely bark of a fisherman was lying in this stream, and 
not far off, on a sandy point, were the ruins of an ancient 
watch-tower. From the roof of the convent, all the 
windings of the Odiel and the Tinto were to be seen, and 
their junction into the main stream, by which Columbus 
sallied forth to sea. In fact the convent serves as a land- 
mark, being, from its lofty and solitary situation, visible 
for a considerable distance to vessels coming on the coast. 
On the opposite side I looked down upon the lonely road, 
through the wood of pine trees, by which the zealous 
guardian of the convent, Fray Juan Perez departed at 
midnight on his mule, when he sought the camp of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella in the Vega of Granada, to plead the 
project of Columbus before the queen. 

Having finished our inspection of the convent, we pre- 
pared to depart, and were accompanied to the outward 
portal by the two friars. Our calesero brought his 
rattling and ricketty vehicle for us to mount; at sight 
of which one of the monks exclaimed, with a smile, 
"Santa Maria! only to think! A calesa before the gate 
of the convent of La Rabida!" And, indeed, so solitary 
and remote is this ancient edifice, and so simple is the 
mode of living of the people in this bye-corner of Spain, 
that the appearance of even a sorry calesa might well 
cause astonishment. It is only singular that in such a 
bye-corner the scheme of Columbus should have found 
intelligent listeners and coadjutors, after it had been dis- 
carded, almost with scoftiing and contempt^ from learned 
universities and splendid courts. 

On our way back to the hacienda, we met Don Rafael, 
a younger son of Don Juan Fernandez, a fine young man 
about twenty-one years of age, and who, his fjither in- 



340 APPENDIX. [1828. 

formed me, was at present studying French and mathe- 
matics. He was well mounted on a sprited grey horse, 
and dressed in the Andalusian style, with the little round 
hat and jacket. He sat his horse gracefully, and man- 
aged him well. I was pleased with the frank and easy 
terms on which Don Juan appeared to live with his chil- 
dren. This I was inclined to think his favourite son, as 
I understood he was the only one that partook of the old 
gentleman's fondness for the chase, and that accompanied 
him in his hunting excursions. 

A dinner had been prepared for us at the hacienda, by 
the wife of the capitaz, or overseer, who, with her hus- 
band, seemed to be well pleased with this visit from Don 
Juan, and to be confident of receiving a pleasant answer 
from the good humoured old gentleman whenever they 
addressed him. The dinner was served up about two 
o'clock, and was a most agreeable meal. The fruits and 
wines were from the estate, and were excellent; the rest 
of the provisions were from Moguer, for the adjacent vil- 
lage of Palos is too poor to furnish any thing. A gentle 
breeze from the sea played through the hall, and tem- 
pered the summer heat. Indeed I do not know when I 
have seen a more enviable spot than this country retreat 
of the Pinzons. Its situation on a breezy hill, at no 
great distance from the sea, and in a southern climate, 
produces a happy temperature, neither hot in summer 
nor cold in winter. It commands a beautiful prospect, 
and is surrounded by natural luxuries. The country 
abounds with game, the adjacent river affords abundant 
sport in fishing, both by day and night, and delightful 
excursions for those fond of sailing. During the busy 
seasons of rural life, and especially at the joyous period 
of vintage, the family pass some time here, accompanied 



1828.] APPENDIX. 341 

by numerous guests, at which times, Don Juan assured 
me, there was no lack of amusements, both by land and 
water. 

When we had dined, and taken the siesta, or afternoou 
nap, according to the Spanish custom in summer time, 
we set out on our return to Moguei*, visiting the village 
of Palos in the way. Don Gabriel had been sent in ad- 
vance to procure the keys of the village church, and to 
apprise the curate of our wish to inspect the archives. 
The village consists principally of two streets of low 
white-washed houses. Many of the inhabitants have 
very dark complexions, betraying a mixture of African 
blood,. 

On entering the village, we repaired to the lowly man- 
sion of the curate. I had hoped to find him some such 
personage as the curate in Don Quixote, possessed of 
shrewdness and information in his limited sphere, and 
that I might gain some anecdotes from him concerning 
his parish, its worthies, its antirpiities, and its historical 
events. Perhaps I might have done so at any other time, 
but, unfortunately, the curate was something of a sports- 
man, and had heard of some game among the neighbour- 
ing hills. We met him just sallying forth from his house, 
and, I must confess, his appearance was picturesque. 
He was a short, broad, sturdy, little man, and had doffed 
his cassock and broad clerical beaver, for a sliort jacket 
and a little round Andalusian hat; he had his gun in 
hand, and was on the point of mounting a donkey whicli 
had been led forth by an ancient withered handmaid. 
Fearful of being detained from his foi'ay, he accosted my 
companion the moment he came in sight. ^*^God pre- 
serve you, Seilor Don Juan ! 1 have received your 
message, and liavc but one answer to make. The ar- 



342 APPENDIX. [1828. 

chives have all beein destroyed. We have no trace of 
any thing you seek for — nothing — nothing. Don Rafael 
has the keys of the church. You can examine it at your 
leisure — Adios, caballero!" With these words the gal- 
liard little curate mounted his donkey, thumped his 
ribs with the butt end of his gun, and trotted off to the 
hills. 

In our way to the church we passed by the ruins of 
what had once been a fair and spacious dwelling, greatly 
superior to the other houses of the village. This, Don 
Juan informed me, was an old family possession, but since 
they had removed from Palos it had fallen to decay for 
want of a tenant. It was probably the family residence 
of Martin Alonzo or Vicente Yafiez Pinzon, in the time 
of Columbus. 

We now arrived at the church of St. George, in the 
porch of which, Columbus first proclaimed to the inhab- 
itants of Palos the order of the sovereigns, that they 
should furnish him with ships for his great voyage of 
discovery. This edifice has lately been thoroughly re- 
repaired, and. being of solid mason work, promises to 
stand for ages, a monument of the discoverers. It stands 
outside of the village, on the brow of a hill, looking 
along a little valley toward the river. The remains of a 
Moorish arch prove it to have been a mosque in former 
times; just above it, on the crest of the hill, is the ruin 
of a Moorish castle. 

I paused in the porch and endeavoured to recall the 
interesting scene that had taken place there, when Co- 
lumbus, accompanied by the zealous friar, Juan Perez, 
caused the public notary to read the royal order in pre- 
sence of the astonished alcaldes, regidors, and alguazils ; 
but it Is difficult to conceive the consternation that must 



1828.] APPENDIX, 343 

have been struck into so remote a little communityj by 
this sudden apparition of an entire stranger among them, 
bearing a command that they should put their persons 
and ships at his disposal, and sail with him away into the 
unknown wilderness of the ocean. 

The interior of the church has nothing remarkable, 
excepting a wooden image of St. George vanquishing 
the Dragon, which is erected over the high altar, and is 
the admiration of the good j)eo])le of Palos, who bear it 
about the streets in grand procession on the anniversary 
of the saint. This group existed in the time of Colum- 
bus, and now flourishes in renovated youth and splen- 
dour, having been newly painted and gilded, and the 
countenance of the saint rendered peculiarly blooming 
and lustrous. 

Having finished the examination of the church, we re- 
sumed our scats in the calesa and returned to Moguer. 
One thing only remained to fulfil the object of my pil- 
grimage. This was to visit the chapel of the Convent of 
Santa Clara. When Columbus was in danger of being 
lost in a tempest on his way home from his great voyage 
of discovery, he made a vow, that should he be spared, 
he would watch and pray one whole night in this chapel ; 
a vow which he doubtless fulfilled immediately after his 
arrival. 

My kind and attentive friend, Don Juan, conducted 
me to the convent. It is the wealthiest in Moguer, and 
belongs to a sisterhood of Franciscan nuns. The chapel 
is large, and ornamented with some degree of richness, 
particularly the part about the high altar, which is em- 
bellished by magnificent monuments of the brave family 
of the Puerto Carreros, the ancient lords of Moguer, and 
renowned in Moorish warfare. The alabaster effigies of 



344 APPENDIX. [1828. 

distinguished warriors of that house, and of their wives 
and sisters, lie side by side, with folded hands, on tombs 
immediately before the altar, while others recline in deep 
niches on either side. The night had closed in by the 
time I entered the church, which made the scene more 
impressive. A few votive lamps shed a dim light about 
the interior ; their beams were feebly reflected by the 
guilded work of the high altar, and the frames of the sur- 
rounding paintings, and rested upon the marble figures of 
the warriors and dames lying in the monumental repose of 
ages. The solemn pile must have presented much the 
same appearance when the pious discoverer performed 
his vigil, kneeling before this very altar, and praying and 
\vatching throughout the night, and pouring forth heart- 
felt praises for having been spared to accomplish his sub- 
lime discovery. 

I had now completed the main purpose of my journey, 
having visited the various places connected with the story 
of Columbus. It was highly gratifying to find some of 
them so little changed though so great a space of time had 
intervened; but in this quiet nook of Spain, so far re- 
moved from the main thoroughfares, the lapse of time 
produces but few violent revolutions. Nothing, how- 
ever, had surprised and gratified me more than the con- 
tinued stability of the Pinzon family. On the morning 
after my excursion to Palos, chance gave me an oppor- 
tunity of seeing something of the interior of most of their 
households. Having a curiosity to visit the remains of 
a Moorish castle, once the citadel of Moguer, Don Fer- 
nandez undertook to show me a tower which served as a 
magazine of wine to one of the Pinzon family. In seek- 
ing for the key we were sent from house to house of near- 
ly the whole connexion. All appeared to be living in 



1828.] APPENDIX, 345 

that golden mean equally removed from the wants and 
superfluities of life, and all to be happily interwoven by 
kind and cordial habits of intimacy. We found the fe- 
males of the family generally seated in the patios, or cen- 
tral courts of their dwellings, beneath the shade of awn- 
ings and among shrubs and flowers. Here the Anda- 
lusian ladies are accustomed to pass their mornings at 
work, surrounded by their handmaids, in the primitive, 
or rather, oriental style. In the porches of some of the 
houses I observed the coat of arms, granted to the family 
by Charles V. hung up like a picture in a frame. Over 
the door of Don Luis, the naval ofiicer, it was carved on 
an escutcheon of stone, and coloured. I had gathered 
many particulars of the family also from conversation with 
Don Juan, and from the family legend lent me by Don 
Luis. From all that I could learn, it would appear that 
the lapse of nearly three centuries and a half has made but 
little change in the condition of the Pinzons. From ge- 
neration to generation they have retained the same fair 
standing and reputable name throughout the neighbour- 
hood, filling offices of public trust and dignity, and pos- 
sessing great influence over their fellow citizens by their 
good sense and good conduct. How rare is it to see such 
an instance of stability of fortune in this fluctuating world, 
and how truly honourable is this hereditary respectabi- 
lity, which has been secured by no titles or entails, but 
perpetuated merely by the innate worth of the race ! I 
declare to you that the most illustrious descents of mere 
titled rank could never command the sincere respect and 
cordial regard with which I contemplated this staunch 
and enduring family, which for three centuries and a half 
has stood merely upon its virtues. 

As I was to set off on my return to Seville before two 

44 



346 APPENDIX. [1828. 

o'clock, I partook of a farewell repast at the house of Don 
Juan, between twelve and one, and then took leave of his 
household with sincere regret. The good old gentle- 
man, with the courtesy, or rather the cordiality of a true 
Spaniard, accompanied me to the posada to see me off. I 
had dispensed but little money in the posada — thanks to 
the hospitality of the Pinzons — yet the Spanish pride of 
my host and hostess seemed pleased that I had preferred 
their humble chamber, and the scanty bed they had pro- 
vided me, to the spacious mansion of Don Juan; and 
when I expressed my thanks for their kindness and atten- 
tion, and regaled mine host with a few choice cigars, the 
heart of the poor man was overcome. He seized me by 
both hands and gave me a parting benediction, and then 
ran after the calasero to enjoin him to take particular care 
of me during my journey. 

Taking a hearty leave of my excellent friend Don Juan, 
who had been unremitting in his attentions to me to the 
last moment, I now set off on my wayfaring, gratified to 
the utmost with my visit, and full of kind and grateful 
feelings towards Moguer and its hospitable inhabitants. 



APPENDIX. 347 



MANIFESTO OF ALONZO DE OJEDA. 

l^The following curious formula, composed hij learned divines in 
Spaiti, was first read aloud by the friars in the train of Alonzo 
de Ojeda as a prelude to his attack on the savages of Carthage- 
■na; and was subsequently adopted by the Spanish discoverers in 
general, in their i?ivasio?is of the hidian countries^ 

I, Alonzo de Ojeda^ servant of the high and mighty 
kings of Castile and Leon, civilizers of barbarous na- 
tions, their messenger and captain, notify and make 
known to you, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, 
one and eternal, created the heavens and the earth, and 
one man and one woman, from whom you, and we, and all 
the people of the earth were and are descendants, pro- 
created, and all those who shall come after us ; but the 
vast number of generations which have proceeded from 
them, in the course of more than five thousand years 
that have elapsed since the creation of the world, made 
it necessary that some of the human race should disperse 
in one direction and some in another, and that they 
should divide themselves into many kingdoms and pro- 
vinces, as they could not sustain and preserve themselves 
in one alone. All these people were given in charge, by 
God our Lord, to one person, named Saint Peter, who 
was thus made lord and superior of all the people of 
the earth, and head of the whole human lineage, whom 
all should obey, wherever they might live, and whatever 
might be their law, sect or belief; he gave him also the 
whole world for his service and jurisdiction, and though 



348 APPENDIX. 

he desired that he should establish his chair in Rome, as 
a place most convenient for governing the world, yet he 
permitted that he might establish his chair in any other 
part of the world, and judge and govern all the nations, 
Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and whatever other 
sect or belief might be. This person was denominated 
Pope, that is to say, admirable, supreme, father and 
guardian, because he is father and governor of all man- 
kind. This holy father was obeyed and honoured as 
lord, king, and superior of the universe by those who 
lived in his time, and, in like manner, have been obeyed 
and honoured by all those who have been elected to the 
Pontificate, and thus it has continued unto the present 
day, and will continue until the end of the world. 

One of these Pontiffs of whom I have spoken, as lord of 
the world, made a donation of these islands and continents, 
of the ocean, sea, and all that they contain, to the Catholic 
kings of Castile, who, at that time were Ferdinand and 
Isabella of glorious memory, and to their successors, our 
sovereigns, according to the tenor of certain papers drawn 
up for the purpose, (which you may see if you desire.) 
Thus his majesty is king and sovereign of these islands and 
continents by virtue of the said donation ; and as king and 
sovereign, certain islands, and almost all to whom this has 
been notified, have received his majesty, and have obeyed 
and served and do actually serve him. And, moreover, like 
good subj ects,and with good will, and without any resistance 
or delay, the moment they were informed of the foregoing, 
they obeyed all the religious men sent among them to 
preach and teach our Holy Faith ; and these of their free 
and cheerful will, without any condition or reward, be- 
came Christians, and continue so to be. And his majesty 
received them kindly and benignantly, and ordered that 



APPENDIX. 349 

they should be treated like his other subjects and vassals: 
you also, are required and obliged to do the same. 
Therefore, in the best manner I can, I pray and entreat 
you, that you consider well what I have said, and that 
you take whatever time is reasonable to understand and 
deliberate upon it, and that you recognise the church for 
sovereign and superior of the universal world, and the 
supreme Pontiff, called Pope, in her name, and his ma- 
jesty in his place, as superior and sovereign king of the 
islands and Terra Firma, by virtue of the said donation; 
and that you consent that these religious fathers declare 
and preach to you the foregoing ; and if you shall so do, 
you will do well; and will do that to which you are 
bounden and obliged; and his majesty, and I in his name, 
will receive you with all due love and charity, and will 
leave you, your wives and children, free from servitude, 
that you may freely do with these and with yourselves 
whatever you please, and think proper, as have done the 
inhabitants of the other islands. And besides this, his 
majesty will give you many privileges and exemptions, 
and grant you many favours. If you do not do this, or 
wickedly and intentionally delay to do so, I certify to 
you, that, by the aid of God, I will powerfully invade 
and make war upon you in all parts and modes that I can, 
and will subdue you to the yoke and obedience of the 
church and of his majesty : and I will take your wives 
and children and make slaves of them, and sell them 
as such, and dispose of them as his majesty may com- 
mand ; and I will take your effects and will do you all the 
harm and injury in my power, as vassals who will not 
obey or receive their sovereign, and who resist and 
oppose him. And I protest that the deaths and disasters 
which may in this manner be occasioned, will be the 



^^^ APPENDIX. 

fault of yourselves and not of his majesty, nor of me, nor 
of these cavaliers who accompany me. And of what I 
here tell you and require of you, I call upon the notary 
here present to give me his signed testimonial. 



THE END. 



CABINET OF HISTORY. 

Several volumes of this work are already before the pubUc, and the i-eception they have met 
with, has induced the publishers to continue it with the intention of making a complete HISTORI- 
CAL ENCYCLOPiEDIA. The high reputation of the authors, and the low price at which the 
work is furnished, will they u-ust, ensure it an extensive circulation. 

The volumes already published are, 

VOLS. I. & II. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 

BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. 

" The History of Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, we do not hesitate to declare, will be, if possible, 
more extensively read, than the most popular work of fiction, by the same pi-olific author, and for 
this obvious reason: it combines much of the brilliant colouring of the Ivanhoe pictui-es of by-gone 
maimers, and all the gi-aeeful facility of style and picturesqueness of description of his other charm- 
ing romances, with a minute fideUty to the facts of liistory, and a searching scrutiny into their 
authenticity and relative value, which might put to the blush Mr. Hume and other professed his- 
torians. Such is the magic chanu of Sir Walter Scott's pen, it has only to touch the simplest in- 
cident of evei-y day life, and it starts up invested with all the interest of a scene of romance; and 
yet such is his fidelity to tlie text of nature, that the knights, and serfs, and collared fools with 
whom his inventive genius has peopled so many volumes, are regarded by us as not mere creations 
of fancy, but as real flesh and blood existence, witli all the virtues, feelings and erroi-s of conimou 
place liumanity."— Lif. Gaz. 

VOL. III. HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 

BY SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. VOL. I. 

" The talents of Sir James Mackintosh are so justly and deeply respected that a strong interest U 
necessarily excited with regard to any work which sucli a distinguished writer may think fit t'->.un- 
dertake. In the present instance, as in all others, our expectations are fully gratified."— fffHt/e- 
men's Mn^. 

" Our anticipations of this volume were certainly very highly raised, and tinlike such anticipa- 
tions in general they have not been disappointed. A philosophical spirit, a nervous style, and a 
full knowledge of the subject, acquired by considerable research into the works of preceding 
chroniclers and histoiians, eminently disting^tisli this popular abridgment, and cannot fail to re- 
commend it to univtrsal approbation. In continuing liis work as he has begun, Sir James Mack- 
intosh will confer a gre.at benefit on his country."— Lonrf. Lit. Gazette. 

VOL. IV. OUTLINES OF HISTORY, 

FROM THE CREATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. (Nearly Ready.) 

" Cluvier's Epitome we have found, notwithstanding great defects, a very useful book; and of 
course a work upon the satne principle, but a very superior plan, and combining the recent im- 
provements derived from a superior mode of writing liistory, and the enlarged knowledge of modern 
science and philosophy, must be a far beit<>r ma\n\a\.''— Gentlemen's Magazine. 

VOL. V. HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, 

TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. BY T. C. GRATTAN. 

" It is but justice to -Mr. Grattan to say tliat he has executed his laborious task witli much industry 
and proportionate effect. Undisfigured by pompous notliingness, and without any of the affecta- 
tion of philosophical profundity, his style is simple, light and fresh — perspicuous, smooth and har- 
monious. "—Ln Belle Assemhlec. 

'* Never did work appear at a more fortunate period: a History of the Netherlands at all times 
a desideratum, is peculiarly so now tliat the public attention is fixed on the revolutionising spirit 
which is at this moment disturbing the country. The volume before us is a compressed but clear 
and impartial narrative,"— L//f. Gazette. 

TO BE SUCCEEDED BY 

VOL. VI. HISTORY OF FRANCE, 

TO THE 

DEPOSITION OF CHARLES X. 

BY EYRE EVANS CROWE. IN 3 VOL.S. VOL. 1. 

" His History of France is worthy to figure with the works of his associates, the best of their 
day, Scott and Mackintosh." — Mnnthlij Magazine. 

" For such a task Mr. Crowe is eminently qualifietl. At a glance, as it were, his eye takes in 
the theatre of centuries. His style is neat, clear, and pithy; and his power of condensation enables 
him to say much, and eflTectively, in a few words, to precent a distinct and perfect picture in a 
narrowly circumscribed space."- La Belle Asscmhlec. 



Vols. VII. VIII. HISTORY OF MARITIME AND INLAND 
DISCOVERY. 2 Vols. 

" The %vhole work is so filled with variety and excellence, that any ten of its pages which we 
might quote would pi-ove to our readers tliat they ought not to be satisfied with less than a.\\."—Lit. 

Gaz. 

THE FOLLOWING ARE IN PREPARATION AND WILL SPEEDILY FOLLOW :- 
History of England, by Sir James Mackintosh, Vol. II. 
Histoi^y of Ireland, by Thomas Moore. 

History of Greece, in 3 Volumes, by the Rev. C. Thirl wall. Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
Histories of Spain, Portugal, Geniiany, Russia, America, &c. by distinguished authors. 
Preliminary Discoui-se for the Cabinet of History, by Sir James Mackintosh. 



JUST PUBLISHED BY CAREY AND LEA; 

1. The Water Witch, or tlie Skimmer of the Seas. By the Author of tlie Pilot, Red Rover, 
&c. In 2 vols. 

2. Tales of a Grandfather, being a Series from French Histoiy. By the Autlior of Waverley. 
In 2 vols. 

3. Atlantic Souvenir, for 1831. 

4. The Poetical Works of Campbell, Rogers, Montgomery, Lambe, and Kirke White, beautifully 
printed, 1 vol. 8vo. to match Byron, Scott, Moore, &c. Witli Portraits of the Authors. 

6. The Chemistiy of tlie Arts, on the Basis of Gray's Operative Chemist, being an Exhibition 
of the Arts and Manufactures dependent on Chemical Principles, with numerous Engi-avings. By 
Arthur L. Porter, M. D. late Professor of Chemistry, &c. in the University of Vennont. In 8vQ. 

6. Abercrombie on Diseases of the Brain and Spinal cord. 1 vol. 8vo. 

7. Abercrombie on Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, &e. I vol. 8vo. 

8. Arnott's Elements of Physics, 8vo. 

9. Beclard's General Anatomy, 8vo. 

10. Smith on Fever. 1 vol. 8vo. 

11. Wood's Sketches of Cliina. 

12. Heimen's Militai-y Surgery, 8vo. 

13. Macculloch on Remittent and Intemiittent Fevers, 1 vol. 8vo. 

15. Bell on the Teeth, 8vo. with plates. 

16. Dewees' Practices of Physic, 2 vols. 8vo. 

17. The American Quaiterly Review, No. XVI. Contents — Buenos Ayres and the Pampas.— In- 
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dollars per annum. 

18. The American Journal of Medical Sciences, No. XIV. for February, 1831.— Among tlie 
Collaborators of this work are Professors Bigelow, Clianning, Chapman, Coxe, D.avidge, De Butts, 
Dewees, Dickenson, Dudley, Francis, Gibson, Hare, Henderson, Horner, Hosack, Jackson, Mac- 
neven, Mott, Mussey, Physick, Potter, Sewall, Warren, and Worthington; Drs. Daniell, Emer- 
son, Feam, Griffith, Geddings, Hays, Hayward, Ives, Jackson, King, Moultrie, Spence, Wai-e, 
and Wright.— Terms Jive dollars per Annum. 

19. Coster's Practice of Medicine, upon the prmciples of the Physiological System, 8vo. 

20. Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacy. By H. M. Edwards, M. D. and P. Vavasseur. 



PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION: 

1. Fragments of Voyages and Travels, including Anecdotes of Naval Life. By Basil Hall, R. N. 
In 2 vols. 

2. Count Robert of Paris. By the Author of Waverley. In 2 vols. 

3. Annals of the Peninsular Campaigns. By tlie Author of Cyril Thomton, 2 vols. 

4. Bourrienne's Memoirs of Napoleon, 2 vols. 

5. Porter's Practical Directions for the culture of the Sugar Cane, and the Manufacture of its 
Products. 8vo. 

6. Broussais's Examination of Medical Docti'ines, 2 vols. 

7. Broussais on Chronic Inflammations. 

K. Farraday's Chemical IManipulation, 8vo. 

9. Thompson on Inflanunation, 8vo. 

10. Jackson's Principles and Practice of Medicine. 

11. Treatise on Mechanics. By James Renwick. In 8vo. with plates. 

12. Treatise on Myology. By E. Geddings, M. D. AVith numerous plates, 4to. 

13. Bonaparte's American Ornithology, Vol. IV. 

14. Butler's Atlas of Ancient Geography. 

15. Surgical Memoii-s of the Russian Campaign. Translated from the French of Baron Lar- 
rey, 8 vo. 

16. Parson's on Anatomical Preparations, 8vo. with Plates 

17. Account of the Liverpool and Manchester Rail-lload, by Henry Booth, Treasui-er to the 
Company; with Observations on tlie Comparative Merits of Locomotive and Fixed Engines, by 
Robert Stephenson and John Locke, Civil Engineers. In 8vo. with Maps and Plates. 




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